Their Lives
by Sabaku No Natsuo
Summary: Prompted stories: KuroFai, some SyaoSaku. Various stories that all revolve around the woes and laughter of words that promote imagination.
1. Feeding

**A/N: **So you can thank **Charmkeeper **for this lovely compailation of one-shots/drabble. She was the one that suggested that I put all of my future short stories into one big thing! But I seriously wanted to post something that you all didn't think that I was dead. I'm actually on vacation in Florida with my sisters, mom and grand parents. With the humidity and heat here I think that I'm as close to Hell as I'll ever be. Anyway enough about me, more about the story. I've chosen to do a fic based on prompts. I've come up with a few already (to include: Feeding, Beads and A Father's Love). Please know that I didn't think of stories for each prompt before I wrote them down in my little prompt bank, they just came to me even if they don't sound like it. If you have ANY suggestions for prompts then don't hesitate to shoot me a review with a prompt you'd like to see me tackle.

**Prompt: **_Feeding- "There was nothing even remotely sexual about it..." Set during Infinity_

**Warnings: **Ummm...Besides the obvious i.e. Yaoi (heavy foreplay but nothing passed that is explained), Swearing (But when is there not?), Darker Fai...? (Should that be a warning?) and the use of the name 'Kurogane' by Fai (It's Infinity I thought it was appropriate)

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**Promt 1: Feeding**

Feeding off of Kurogane was the most disgusting thing I'd ever done. I can't possibly grasp why feeding was always depicted as some kind of super-sexual, dark, mysterious act that most often lead to fornication.

There was absolutely nothing sexual about depending on another human to sustain my life for me. What sort of existence was it if I lost my independence in the process? And if Kurogane ever tried to tell me that I wasn't dependent on him then I'd just glare at him and walk away. He doesn't know what it's like to have to live off of some one else, _he _can still eat normal food and live on that.

AND when I even looked tired or paler than 'usual' it was the same routine. Kurogane would grip my shoulder, arm, wrist whatever was closest to him, 'you need to feed' (God he needs a new catch phrase). I resist for a while, he slits his wrist and then I give in and feed.

What is so sexy about something _so monotonous?! _

"Mage," Kurogane barked from behind me. "You haven't fed today."

I rolled my eyes and started to walk away. Here comes predictability and as usual I didn't feel like taking part in such a vile act.

"Come on," he grabbed my hand in an almost delicate way. "You have to feed."

I let out a sarcastic laugh, "Feed."

I could feel his eyes screw up in confusion as I shook my head. He couldn't understand why I laughed but it's just as well I suppose.

"Stop acting like you're crazy and just drink," He started to reach for a blade.

My patience was thin, my nerves easily worked on. I didn't want his blood filling my head with its horribly sickly scent. Instinct told me that it would drive me crazy, even if I was half way there with Kurogane just in the same room as me. Though I doubt that had a thing to do with his blood.

I turned around and placed a hand on his shoulder and slammed into the wall directly behind him before he could grasp the blade he would have used to hand feed me. The force of his body against the wall was enough to knock the wind out of him. His breath came out all at once over my neck as I pressed into his body.

I supported my body on his, "I think you like this feeding thing more than I do."

I felt him try to move away from him so I pushed further into him (if that was at all possible) and gave him a cold hard look. Beneath my touch I could sense a shiver run through him. Was it because I was taking charge of the situation? Or did he feel threatened by my being aggressive?

"Feed. Drink. Feed," I breathed out as I ran one finger across his cheek. "If you want me to take your blood so badly, fine!"

I punctuated this statement in once swift motion. All at once I gripped the back of his neck and pierced the soft skin of his pulse. I heard Kurogane's breath catch for a second before it came back full force.

The moment his blood entered my mouth it was like my senses were put into overdrive. My hands started to shake against his neck and chest, bright bursts of color exploded just beyond my hand's grasp. I reinforced my grip on his neck, almost scratching the skin I touched. My other hand came up to his neck as I attempted to pull more of his intoxicating blood from his veins into my mouth.

I felt Kurogane's hand slip under my thigh and jerk it up to wrap around his waist. I nearly lost all of my senses when he started to massage my inner thigh. I knew that I had already taken too much blood today but _damn _did I want to keep drinking in his life.

I braced myself to pull away from his neck. _Breathe. _I took in one long drag of air and withdrew my fangs from Kurogane's neck. I inhaled the scent of his bronzed skin and his sweet blood, his scent as far as I was concerned. His scent twisted my stomach and patience passed the point of recognition.

My tongue traced the wounds I had created in the small space of time we just spent together. Instantly his skin began to stretch over the holes in his neck to heal it. But I wasn't too worried about closing his wound during that moment. No I was more focused on the fact that his grip on my thigh just increased the more I worked on his neck. I blew cold air on the area I just lapped at.

A shiver rolled over his spine and created goose bumps that I felt as one of my hands roved over his bare arms. I began to kiss a trail from the site of feeding up along his neck and across the expanse of his jaw line. Each kiss brought a more primitive sound from Kurogane. Each kiss brought me closer to the brink of insanity. There had to be a limit before any normal person cracked.

For Kurogane that limit was breeched when my teeth mercilessly teased at his ear lobe. A low animalistic growl was my only warning before he gripped my head and pulled my teeth away from his skin and began to attack the soft juncture of my neck and shoulder. His teeth bit down and pulled the skin into his mouth, over and over, not for one second bringing me displeasure.

I let out an unusual cry; muffled by my own control and broken by the way Kurogane continued to abuse my skin. He readjusted the hand on my thigh and then lifted my other leg to allow both to wrap completely around his lean waist. I hid my fingers among his thick dark locks and kissed him until we were both red and breathless.

Kurogane supported my body with one arm around my waist while the other was at the back of my head, twisting my hair around his long fingers. I groaned when his lips began to kiss the small triangle of exposed skin on my chest. He nipped but it seemed as though the aggression from earlier wasn't thundering quite as loudly in his veins. I tugged him up by his hair and gave him a fiery kiss that would surely turn us both into ashes.

He responded by starting to move towards the bedroom we shared (much to my distaste). Maybe the journey wasn't that graceful but it was funny to be a part of. First he nearly had us both tumble over the low standing couch in the living room. Then he bruised my back by running me into a corner in the wall. I grimaced when this happened but bit down on his lip and moaned as he rubbed my back with the calloused pads of his hand.

Sometime between the points when Kurogane hit his knees against the hard edges of the coffee table and when he rammed his own back against the door frame of our room he decided that it was a good idea to start undressing me. I probably should have stopped him from doing too many things at once. He was worrying over my pleasure, trying to support me and still undress me…But it was too funny to have him stumble around the little rented room as his fingers stumbled around the buttons of my shirt.

I can vaguely recall a few hickies on my stomach that still managed to hurt after a few hours of sped up healing. There were also many more hickies on Kurogane's pelvis that were probably there for a much longer time than my decorations were.

But I wouldn't know first hand. That was the last time we had sex while in Infinity. Even if I did yearn for him later on down the road I refused to give into my own lust.

Odder than waking up to Kurogane stroking my hair the next morning was that even though mind blowing foreplay and an amazing fuck came from feeding I still found it to be as despicable and vile as before.

There is something disgusting about living off of another person's blood, nothing even remotely sexual about it.

_End of Feeding_

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**A/N: **So I figured that every KuroFai writer had to have some kind of feeding fic in their arsenol. I didn't want to be part of the out-crowd (yeah...sure -rolls eyes-). But I thought that I would have a different take on it. If you didn't catch the difference it was that feeding wasn't what made these two go crazy for each other and hump each other's brains out, it was the fact that one: Fai was dominate and initiated it all (HOT) and two: they will always go crazy for each other. Fai despises living off of Kuro's blood in Infinity, why is he gonna want to have sex with him because of feeding? Yes to a Vamp blood is intoxicating (tried to capture that aspect as well) but Fai is stubborn and wanted Kuro b/c he wanted Kuro NOT his blood.

I sincerly hope that my little rant made ANY sense at all. lol. Please tell me if I have achieved what I aimed for. I just noticed how short this one was...O.o

_**Next Prompt**: Beads- "Each bead represented a different event, a different person that meant something to me..."_


	2. Beads

**A/N: **Wow...I did not expect to post ANOTHER prompt in the same week. Wow. I hope you guys like this one. I am really pleased with it. I did not expect it to come out like this, but I REALLY REALLY like it! Still hot as hell here but, I'll live if the heat gets me to write things like this.

**Prompt: **_Beads- "Each one represents a different person or place that means something to me..." _

**Warnings: **While there is no Yaoi...there is Shonen-Ai (teh kisses all over the place people!) and there is swearing (...duh.) and emotional scenes (but this is Fai people, what do you expect?)

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**Prompt 2:Beads**

From the very beginning I had a set of beads that I always carried with me. No one knew about them, and I wasn't about to tell anyone about them.

I bought the set of crystal blue beads at the beginning of our journey, in the Hanshin Republic. They were on a modest shelf in a secondhand store we stopped in while we got used to the city we were in. Syaoran was looking at the yellowed pages of a few different childhood books the shop boasted. Kuro was leaning against the wall, grumbling about his homeland no doubt. And I, I was just roaming through the store when the string of beads caught my eye.

They were sitting on a wooden shelf right next to a rather old looking pipe. There was something about them that made me stop and stare with my undivided attention. It could have been the way that they splashed a spectrum of colors against my hand or it could have been the way the refreshing blue reminded me so much of my home (even if I wasn't too keen on returning).

Whatever it was that made me do it, I slipped the long line of beads into my hands and carried it to the front desk. The clerk looked at me and then looked at the beads. He didn't say a word as he bagged my only purchase. The only time he uttered a single syllable to me was when he told me the price. I reached into my pocket and took out some of the money that the kind man we were staying with gave me for lunch.

I poured the beads from the bag and pushed them into my pocket. For some reason I didn't want Kuro or Syaoran seeing my beads.

That night, when I assumed Kuro would be sleeping, I took the beads out and counted them. _100 beads. _In some weird way the thought to name each bead came into my head. I decided to name each bead after some one precious to me.

The first bead's name was _Fai. _

* * *

The next bead was named right after we found Sakura's feather in the Hanshin Republic. The way she looked up into Syaoran's wide and innocent face, her face confused and lost, was enough to make my heart break.

"_Who are you…?" _

For this inexplicable reason I wanted to run over to Syaoran and hold him and tell him that it was okay. But I didn't. Instead I waited to introduce the whole team.

Later on I reached into my bag and felt for the second bead.

_Syaoran…_

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_­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_

It was hard to name the next bead. I wanted to name it after another person in our little traveling group but it seemed as though I was still far away from them. Even though Kuro and I had fought side by side (and nearly lost), I still felt miles away from him.

So the next bead was not going to be Kuro's bead. I chose to name it after some one who knew pain and who knew how to be brave.

I named the third bead _Chun Hyang. _Because she surprised even herself when she stormed the castle and woke up the villagers of her beloved town. And she had the strength to admit that she could never see her mother again, that her mother could not live again because her life was gone.

Now that is something I wish I could be strong enough to believe. _Chun Hyang _is befitting to the third bead…

* * *

It was no secret that while we were in Outo I began to grow attached to both of the children. Sakura was like a daughter to me. I loved seeing her smile and laugh with me as I drew cute pictures of 'Big Kitty' and 'Little Kitty' and their faithful protectors 'Big Doggy' and 'Little Doggy'. I wanted her to smile like that all the time. I never wanted to see her pained by the missing pieces of her life.

That is when my fourth bead became _Sakura. _I wasn't sure if by naming it _Sakura _I was praying that she would always be happy or if I was naming it _Sakura _to feed my affection for the small girl. Either way, she was my daughter and nothing could change that.

* * *

The next two beads were given the names _Mokona, _and_ Yuuko. _And yet I hadn't named any of them Kuro. I came close to it while we were in Yama, after the first time he kissed me. But I didn't. I didn't want to name a bead Kuro because that would mean I was getting close to him. And getting close to him meant getting him hurt.

I could not, and would not, allow Kuro to get hurt because of me. So for that time, there was no bead named Kuro. But I always touched the bead I almost named Kuro in an almost loving way, like the way he touched my hair when he thought I was asleep.

I bit my lip, turned the bead on its silken string once and tucked it away that day, nearly regretting not naming it Kuro.

* * *

After Kuro kissed me the second time it was even harder to not name a bead after him. Instead the kiss being something of pure, unrelenting passion…it was tender, sweet, soft and slow. I felt like he was trying to bring me to tears as he held one of my hands in his and used the other to cup my cheek as he gave my lips a blessing fit for Gods.

When he broke the kiss he rubbed his thick thumb across my face and gave me a quick kiss again before letting his hands fall away from my needy figure.

"_You make it hard not to name beads after you…" _I spoke in my native tongue, since we were still in Yama and therefore could not understand each other.

Even if he did understand the words I said he would never understand the meaning of them. Kuro did not know about my beads, nor did any other person on our team.

He chuckled a little. I think he knew that I was being a little sarcastic with him. I gave him a crooked half smile as he stood up to go ask the Colonel about when we had to go into battle.

I watched him leave and then rummaged through my bag to find my string of beads as soon as I could no longer see his back. I pulled them out and fingered the bead just below the almost-named Kuro bead.

This one was named: _Yama._

* * *

The only time I considered breaking the crystal beads was in Acid Tokyo, after Kurogane had me changed into a vampire. When I woke up and after I said good morning to Kurogane, I went over to my possessions and pulled my beads out.

He was already gone, so I didn't have to worry about my beads being discovered. I rolled the beads in one of my hands until my index finger landed on the crystal bead that was almost-named Kuro. I looked around the room for something heavy to smash it with. I found a small figurine that had probably been saved by the people of Acid Tokyo just after the acid rain began to fall.

It was made of ceramic and was a figurine of a family of wolves with a few chips here and there from its hard life. I held the string of beads in place with my free hand and my foot. I raised the figure over my head and prepared to break the almost-Kuro bead into a million tiny pieces.

But I stopped. I couldn't bring myself to break the bead. At the time I told myself that it was because my sting of beads would be ruined and some of them cracked if I used such a crude instrument to break the almost-Kuro bead. But I knew that it was because I couldn't bear to think of my life if Kurogane really was as broken as I was about to make his almost-bead.

I placed the family of wolves back on the tall desk and shoved my beads back into my bag. I didn't want to look at them at that moment. It sickened me to think that I nearly named a bead after a man who couldn't respect my wishes.

* * *

I wouldn't name another bead until we arrived in Nihon.

In Infinity I was too concerned with hurting Kuro the way he hurt me.

In Celes there wasn't enough time to even think of anything that didn't involve my life with Ashura before my travels with everyone.

But almost _as soon _as we arrived in Nihon I knew that there was room on my line of beads to name on _Tomoyo. _

"_Don't worry..." _she spoke so softly to quell my violently shaking body. _"Kurogane will not die." _

And everyday after that, while Kuro-sama was still asleep Tomoyo came to see me.

"_You love him don't you?" _I remember when she asked me that, her voice was even, as if she knew it the second she saw me.

I wouldn't doubt it since I was hysterical when the stretcher tried to take Kuro-sama away from me. She saw it. Tomoyo saw that I loved Kuro-sama with all of my heart even if I had initially thought that I was not allowed to love him.

"_Yes…" _

She gave me a warm smile and patted the side of my face, much like she had the day we first me. When she stood to leave the room and attend to one of her multiple duties I went into my cloak from Celes. Inside one of the many pockets was the sting of one hundred beads.

I hid the beads in my hand, the sleeve of my clothes covering my bulging fist. I walked to the room that held Kuro-sama, still sleeping off his wounds. I pulled the fabric door open just a little. The only one inside was Kuro-sama, looking peaceful and innocent in the rapture of slumber.

I slipped in and quietly made my way to his side. I knelt down beside his futon and took his hand in mine. Gingerly I kissed each of his knuckles, each one a prayer for him to be okay, for him to wake up soon. I placed the first bead in between his index finger and thumb.

"This one is Fai," I began with a deep breath. "The real one, my brother."

I moved the beads to the second one, "This one here is Syaoran, you know, the first one we met. The one you taught, the one that Sakura loves so much."

"And, this one is Chun Hyang," I twisted the bead on the silk thread. "She was so strong and brave. You remember her right?"

I felt his hand twitch slightly as I slid the beads over his fingers. My breath felt like it weighed as much as a boulder in that moment. I thought that maybe Kuro-sama was going to wake up. But the twitch only lasted a second and then I could breathe again.

"The fourth one is Sakura," I felt like I was introducing Kuro-sama to all the people he already knew. "She's our daughter, I know you'd probably yell at me for saying something like that but it's true. She will always be our little girl."

I knew that I laid it on a little thick there, but I wanted him to respond to me so badly. I let out a pained laughed as I continued to tell Kuro-sama about my beads and which one was named what.

Finally my fingers tapped the one I almost named Kuro too many times to count.

"This one…" I took a deep breath. "Is almost your bead. I haven't named it after you yet…but you've made me come close to it quite a few times."

I kissed his hand again, "Like that time in Yama when you kissed me on our cot before we went into battle…you remember that, yes?"

I thought I saw his face twitch with emotion but I wrote it off as my own delusion and went on with my story, "I felt like I meant something to you the way you kissed me. I never wanted to leave that moment Kuro-sama."

I took another deep breath as the memories assaulted me in that way that memories do when the last thing you want to do is cry. Slowly I rested my forehead against our touching hands. I let a few tears sting my eyes and fall to the carpet below.

"If you wake up I promise I'll name this one Kuro," I pleaded desperately with the sleeping man. "I will Kuro-sama, I promise…"

A few days after that he woke up and sure to my promise that bead was named Kuro right after we said our 'hellos' to each other. Mine included punching him. His included kissing me like he had in Yama.

"Fai…" he whispered into my palm as I readjusted myself to look up at him. "When I was asleep I think I heard your voice."

I nodded. I had been prepared to retell the story of my beads to Kuro-sama. As much as I'd been trying to hide them before, I was ready to show him something that precious to me. Slowly I pulled the long strand of beads out from the sash around my waist.

"I bought this back in the Hanshin Republic," I began as I felt the bump of each bead slide passed my other hand as I moved it to show Kuro-sama the crystal beads better.

"Each bead represents a different person or place that means something to me," I took his hand and ran it along the cool blue beads. "This one," our hands landed on the seventh bead on the string. "Is you, Kuro."

I kissed his hand and he moved our hands to kiss me before I moved our hands to the top of the beautiful beads to start my tale of which bead was who, and why.

_End of Beads_

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**A/N: **So I hope that you guys enjoyed that because there were a few different types of 'beads' I was thinking of before writing this prompt. The first one was a bracelet made of beads, but I ditched that when I couldn't think of anything good for it. The second one was beads of sweat, as in a summer fic for Kuro and Fai, but I quickly tore that one up when it came out sounding stupid. I thought of this one last night but couldn't think of a good way to bring about physical beads until I got a review from **"SilverKleptoFox" **who mentioned Japanese rosaries. Thanks for saying that!! If you hadn't it probably would have been a necklace or something.

**Next Prompt: **READER'S CHOICE!

_A Father's Love: "I would always protect them but unlike a mother I would push them out into the real world instead of sheltering them from it..."_

_A Mother's Love: "A mother isn't there to teach a child how to be tough a mother is there to teach a child to love and that's what I do. I hug my kids and I love them just like a mother should..."_

_Mirrors: "Just a sheet of glass. A sheet of glass that showed you everything that was wrong with you from an objective standpoint. And that was probably what made me want to drive my fist through it..."_


	3. Mirrors

**A/N: **DAMN!! I must really love you guys! That's like...a million updates in three days...? Kay so I'm being a bit dramatic. lol. Thank you guys for voting for the prompt! . I will do all of them you guys just helped with the chronological order. But this IS the shortest I've ever written! It seemed to me that it would become awkward if it was long like all of my other pieces. Plus if you've ever spoken to some one who was really guarded, you probably noticed that they would give you information but withold the rest of it. I thought that Fai would do the same to Kuro, as well as the readers. He goes into detail...but not enough to make himself THAT vulnerable.

And I'd like to clear some things up with you guys. Yes I am 16 (gonna be 17 on July 9th!), and I have 2 sisters one older and one younger than me (making me the middle child by defalt people) possibly the reason why you guys think I'm older is b/c I'm motherly to them and most of my friends (kinda grew up really fast), and pm's are disabled b/c me and my sister are lazy...our inbox would be super-cluttered and I don't like looking at that. Sorry for the inconvienience (so spelled that one wrong...) people...really I am I just don't like it!

**Prompt: **_Mirrors- "The stupid thing showed me just who I was. And it just so happened that I wasn't who I claimed to be..."_

**Warnings: **Dude...NO KUROFAI...I know it makes me sad too. It's not physical but there is a connection between them, which you should get. Umm...heavy emotional baggage.

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**Prompt 3:Mirrors**

Just a sheet of glass.

A sheet of glass that showed you everything that was wrong with you from an objective standpoint.

And that was probably what made me want to drive my fist through it.

I reached out and ran one finger along its smooth surface. It was cool to the touch. I felt an army of shivers run through my body as I continued to allow my finger to hold the connection it had with this piece of unbiased glass.

It was cold. The mirror didn't care about my feelings. It didn't cater to my ego. The _stupid _thing showed me just who I was.

And it just so happened that I wasn't who I claimed to be.

I was a twin. I was a curse. And what's worse, I stole my own brother's name.

I was sin the moment I was born. A part of me always knew that I would continue to be sin, and it would be because I'm feeding my own self-loathing super-ego.

My finger trailed to meet my eyes, the jewels that held the truth of my life. This wasn't my life. It wasn't me. I shouldn't be here with these people. I should be the one dead. Perhaps then there was a chance that they could make it out of this ordeal alive.

_This isn't me! _

I pulled my fist back and listened as micro-slits of the glass shattered around me and fell to the floor. I let my eyes slide shut to pull in the glorious sound into my head. The mirror was broken. At last I didn't have to stare the truth in the face.

I slowly allowed my body to fall to the floor. I felt my back hit the bathroom wall with a soft 'thud'. Various shards of glass poked my clothed legs, but I didn't pay any attention to them. I opted for replaying that sound over and over in my mind.

That sickening shatter of the mirror.

I could feel myself fall into a more mellowed state, almost as if I were exhausted from having to look at my own reflection.

"What in the hell happened?!" all at once the sound of a broken mirror fell away from me, to be replaced by a brash question.

I snapped my head up, "The mirror fell, Kuro-chu."

I closed my eyes and tilted my head to the side. It was a far-fetched lie even for me.

He let out a grunt and looked at the scene before him. I knew that instantly he put the pieces together. But would he say something about it, I wonder…?

"Did it fall on your hand?" he asked while propping himself up against the doorframe he opened to the rest of the world.

"Absolutely," I replied knowing that would piss him off.

I opened my eyes and glanced up at Kuro, my lids still heavy from the high of destruction. His face was set in a stony disposition. It was like he was scolding me for lying and for breaking the mirror…and if I looked harder I probably would have seen him chiding me for…hurting myself.

He moved his head slightly to indicate my hand, which I hadn't moved since I landed on the ground. I chanced a look at it. There were cuts, some small and barely bleeding, other much larger and coating my hand in the liquid.

"Oh yes, this could be a little problematic…" I commented in a low voice. The high still hadn't worn off and enthusiasm seemed out of my league in that moment.

I turned my eyes back up to him. His face had gone from cold to cold with an undercurrent of rage.

It was then that I realized that Kuro was a mirror as well. He didn't care if he hurt my feelings by what he said to me. He showed me just what I was feeling, just what I made others feel, without so much as a second thought to sympathy. Kuro was just as cold as the mirror I destroyed.

"Don't worry," I assured him with a brighter smile, as the euphoria from my moment of madness began to ebb away. "I'll be okay as soon as you say you love me!"

I saw him blush and turn away from me. Good, my comment did what it was supposed to...put things back in order.

But as he walked away I heard him grumble, "You're right you are the kind I hate the most…"

_End of Mirrors _

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**A/N: **Not for the faint of heart...? lol j/k. I hope that I really did convey the thought of being open but being a tower...you get it...? I really do hope so b/c out of all of what I've written this one is the hardest to explain. And I'm kinda scared that the only people that would understand it would be the people who've been through things like this...you know? But if you don't get it them please tell me, I like to hear about my writing from a bunch of different stand points.

Oh! And I imagined this piece taking place in Outo for some reason...heance the reasoning behind the last line.

**Next Prompt: **_ILY- "While he had been done with his project for a few days I still had a heap of work to do on my sad excuse of a picture, and yet he still slid a pad of paper to me. In the top left hand corner were the letters ILY in curly, swirly handwriting..." Highschool AU (I thought it was too cute to pass up!!)_

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	4. ILY

**A/N: **Okay...so I think I'm getting out of hand. It is like...2 in the morning and here I am posting ANOTHER prompt!! lol. Stop me before I update again!! lol j/k. I think you guys would be heart broken if I didn't update. I think this one is rather cute. It's longer, cuter and like infinitly fluffier than the last one. So please enjoy this!!

**Prompt: **_ILY- "While he had been done with his project for a few days I still had a heap of work to do on my sad excuse of a picture, and yet he still slid a pad of paper to me. In the top left hand corner were the letters ILY in curly, swirly handwriting..." _

**Warnings: **Shonen-Ai (No more than that...Sorry...maybe I'll mention some sex soon. You guys might be getting SF'd), Swearing (Yup...that's right you read it correctly! RIn has a story with SWEARING in it!) and one annoying (and very real) Art teacher.

* * *

**Prompt 4: ILY**

I wasn't the type of guy to be in any type of art class. I was the type to train for hours upon hours at my father's dojo. I was in no way of the word, 'artsy'.

Yet I spent every school day, sixth period, sitting catty-corner to my insane boyfriend in the coldest room in the whole damn building.

It's been nearly three months since I've started that class with Fai, and I still don't know how I ended up in there. I think he got me to agree to it when I wasn't listening to his mindless chatter. Or when I wasn't thinking straight. Because there is no way in Hell that I would consent to being in an art class.

Much less an advanced drawing class.

I had no type of prowess in drawing! I have no idea why the teacher hadn't kicked me out the second I turned in a sloppy sketch of a bowl of fruit for my first project. Stupid teacher probably kept me around as her verbal punching bag and comedic relief. That woman more than likely took my projects down from her stupid little file and laughed at my lopsided figures and ill-proportioned inanimate objects.

Really it was torture being in that class when I didn't belong.

But I stayed in for Fai, who (for reasons that are beyond my mortal understanding) is the guy I am in love with.

He did belong in an advanced drawing class. Effortlessly he could draw a picture from his mind, a portrait of a person he saw _once, _and place shadows on anything just beautifully enough to make you believe it was in front of you instead of on a flat piece of paper. If anything, Fai was belittling himself by being in a class like the one we were in.

Not only were his projects stunning in quality, but they were also among the first to be turned in…Early. After he's done he'd either free-draw or find one way or another to distract me. More often than not it was the latter…

I threw my backpack underneath the full length table and went to the sixth period cubby for projects. This two-weeks project was to illustrate a phrase (teacher's choice of course): "The changing tides". If you can't tell, I'm absolutely tickled over this one. Ugh.

By the time I was walking back with my eight and a half by eleven sheet of paper, no doubt the teacher wanted more room for my projects the better to mock me with, Fai was already settled into a chair. Not his usual chair but a chair no less.

"Eh," I greeted a little bit moodily. "Why aren't you in your seat?"

Fai looked up at me. He looked a little surprised that I was talking to him, like we hadn't been going out almost the entire time we've been in high school.

"Can't I sit next to Kuro-chan every once and a while?" he asked me twirling his pencil in between his fingers after he overcame his initial shock that his _own boyfriend _should speak to him.

I rolled my eyes at him when he patted my chair to invite me to sit down. I pulled the chair out and sat next to him and began to work on my pathetic piece of work. There were harsh streaks from my inept eraser, dark lines from me pressing on the pencil too hard and a few fingerprints from when Fai grabbed it out of my hands after working on a charcoal portrait of a picture of the two of us.

My eraser began to work over the darkened prints, only to smudge them further. I growled in frustration and decided it was best not to dwell on those since they were about as stubborn as the man that owned them.

Next to me I heard Fai start to tap the eraser end of his pencil on the fake-wood tabletop in an off beat, highly annoying rhythm. I turned my head slowly to glare at him. Already my day was going pretty badly. Everything from losing a _very vital _part of my Chemistry project to being mentally abused by my childhood friend Tomoyo happened that day. It was a small annoyance but it was enough to be a galvanized nail underneath my skin.

"Oh!" he exclaimed looking a little too cheery. Fai set the pencil down and smiled at me. "Sorry."

I went back to my hopeless project. The only good thing about being artistically challenged, I reminded myself, was that there was no way she graded me on the same level as Fai. I sketched a few non-specific lines. I really was in no mood to do a damn thing but, the teacher, Ms. Mouton would write me up if she saw I wasn't doing her work and instead goofing off with Fai.

"Hey," Fai tapped the back of my head. "Hey."

"What?" I growled as I looked up from my project.

He leaned into me and planted a kiss on my lips. I couldn't help but smile as he did this. Fai used one hand on my thigh to balance himself. One hand that he decided to tighten a few times as he kissed me. The whole class knew we'd been going out since God only knows when, so I wasn't bothered by kissing Fai in front of them. The only problem with this little display was—

"Mr. Kurogane! Mr. Fluorite!" Ms. Mouton barked at us just as Fai began to slip me some tongue.

Fai broke the connection and closed his eyes, as if to quiet the rage of being interrupted. He put his forehead against mine and smiled softly. I knew damn well he lived off of this stuff, getting in trouble for little things.

"Yes, Ms. Mouton?" he replied in a slightly candy-coated voice.

"This is the third time this month," she scolded in her fake Harlem accent.

Under my breath I muttered, "Seventh." Fai chuckled silently and kissed my bottom lip sans the sounds as a reward for my sarcasm.

"If ya'll don't separate right now I'm gonna send you up to the AP's," the large woman threatened. "Understand?"

"Crystal clear Ms. Mouton," Fai answered as he reluctantly retracted his hand, but not before giving my thigh another squeeze.

I wanted to reach over and pull him back onto my lap. But neither of us could afford another trip to the AP's. They knew us pretty well up there. Usually it was for PDA but other times it could be for that mischievous streak Fai had. He smiled at me, promising to finish what he initiated later.

Even though I wanted to finish now, I had a project that was due…today…to finish. I turned back to my seizure inducing picture and continued to add random lines and non-existent shadows here or there.

I heard metal slide across the short distance between Fai and I. While he had been done with his project for a few days I still had a heap of work to do on my sad excuse of a picture, and yet he still slid a pad of paper to me. In the top left hand corner were the letters 'ILY' in curly, swirly handwriting. I stared at it for a second and scribbled back 'ILY' under his.

After I slid it back to him I went back to work on my project. Next to me he giggled and then the fateful scritch scratch of his pencil was heard. The letters he wrote were now childishly decorated with hearts that read 'KuroxFai 4ever' and flowers that had crooked, double lined petals. If you looked at this note and then looked at Fai you'd never guess he was a prize winning artist from our school.

I twisted my body in a weird way and started to draw on my little 'ILY'. Fai scooted closer to me and drew on his some more. Then his pencil got too close to my ILY.

"Hey," I warned, feeling very strangely territorial over my ILY.

"Hmm?" he hummed as he continued to draw small pictures between our ILY's.

"Draw on your own--" I began.

I was cut off by none other than! That's right Ms. Mouton!

"There are other people who are trying to work Mr. Kurogane. Please be considerate," she continued to click-clack her nails against the keys of her keyboard after she said this.

I rolled my eyes at her and wrote what I was going to say to Fai off to the side.

_Draw on your own side!_

Fai considered this for a moment and then wrote back his response.

_But your side is soooo BORING Kuro-chu…:(_

I scoffed at his response and began to scratch out his drawings from my ILY.

_I don't care Fai. _

He looked at me for a second and then took my chin in his index finger and thumb and shook my head. I thought for a second he was going to kiss me but he just went back to the paper and continued to draw on my ILY.

'_Kuro-woofie is cute!' _was written next to my little confession. I would have erased this…except Fai all but threw himself over the pad of paper to protect it. I playfully pushed at his side to roll him off of the paper. He giggled jovially and it seemed that I caught his infectious laughter because I almost began chuckling at his insane display.

I felt another lecture from Ms. Mouton coming on but just as she was about to open up that black-hole of a mouth the bell rang. I stuck my sorry project in the turn in bin and chased Fai out of the class room. He was clutching the note to his chest and jogging down the halls.

* * *

Since neither of us had a seventh period class, being seniors and all, we both just took a ride in my small car to Fai's house. All the way there he kept talking about how he was going to frame the note and ask his foster Father, Ashura, to hang it up in the living room. Right next to the award he got for a piece he did for an amateur art gallery was apparently the _perfect _place for it.

I just shook my head and swiped at him every now and again.

When we got into the house and took off our shoes (to Ashura there was nothing better than a clean rug) we ran upstairs to his room since his dad wouldn't be home until about five o'clock.

The second we got into the room Fai pushed me onto his computer chair and told me to sit there like a good little doggy. While I sat there he rummaged through his closet. It was home to his unfolded clothes, his colorful art supplies (ranging from oil paints to number two pencils) and a few projects he disliked. It was also common knowledge that in his closet was where he hid any and all presents he bought for me.

I watched as he threw clean jeans to the side, pushed oceans of pencils out of his way and then bent over to look further in his closet. Sometimes I was scared that he was going to go in and never come out again. He reemerged with something just beyond my vision. Fai looked happy enough, a little bit proud over it in fact.

He backed out of his closet, a large piece of paper rolled up in his hands. I figured Fai was going to show me another picture he planned on submitting to the local art gallery. But when he backed up into my legs and looked up at me I knew there was something more. His heavenly blue eyes held the pride and hopefulness that every artist had when they felt good, _really good, _about a particular work they'd slaved over.

"Close your eyes!" he commanded as he pivoted on his knees to face me.

I did as I was told. I heard the paper come unrolled and then Fai curse under his breath when it curled back up. Finally the paper was apparently smoothed out.

"Okaaaaaay…" he gave me a heads up every time. "Open!"

My eyes flew open and I was greeted with the sight of a very intimate picture.

It was one that was not uncommon when we were in private but even so it didn't mean that it was any less…_amazing. _

In the picture Fai was on my lap, one of my hands twirling a lock of his hair, the other laying at rest on his thighs. I was leaning in to whisper something into his ear and hair. What I was whispering is something that I would only ever say to him. Fai was touching my pinky and ring finger with his fingers and his other hand covered a small square of his mouth as if he was embarrassed by what I had said to him.

There were very few sections that weren't done completely in dark hues of gray pencils. His eyes were both the same bright innocent blue he boasted and his smooth lips were colored with a pale pink with a few hints of red here and there. My eyes were a softened crimson color, less harsh than they normally were. And the same way his lips were, mine were a satiny pink with a few lines of rouge for accents.

Fai peered up over the picture to see my reaction to such a touching and private piece. I tried to run a finger over the lips of the drawn Fai but the real Fai chose then to speak up.

"Don't touch!"

I pulled my hand back as if I'd been burned. Normally if I tried to touch his work he'd either slap my hand playfully or let me touch it.

"I need to spray it," he explained a little less frazzled this time. "I used charcoal on some parts and I don't want it to smear."

I nodded and spotted a sheet of tissue paper lying next to him. I knew he wasn't being mean by denying me the privilege to touch his artwork. It was after all _his. _

I tapped the top of the picture and he lowered it just enough for me to be able to cup his cheek and kiss his lips tenderly.

"You did good Fai," I commented as soon as we broke apart.

A rare blush crept across his snowy skin. I think it was because this was one of those rare comments I gave him about his art. He nodded slowly and began to roll up the picture, tissue paper and all.

When he was done with that I beckoned to him with my index finger. He came over to me happily and sat on my lap. I snaked my arm around to hold the side of his face since he was facing forward and I was sideways to him.

"I love you."

I felt his spine wrack with shivers as I said this. It was like food to my fingertips.

Fai gingerly held my jaw in the palm of his hand and kissed my face.

"I love you too."

* * *

The next day we walked into drawing together to find a rough sketch of the two of us at the back of the room, propped up against the sinks. It was drawn on a large chunk of masonite according to Fai.

I noticed it was of when we were kissing yesterday. Whoever did that had a really good memory and great talent, much like Fai.

It was only after Ms. Mouton got over her early class PMS that she said that apparently one of Mrs. Androski's painting students was in our class yesterday looking for material for her next project. Well, it would appear that whoever she was, she found it.

_End of ILY_

* * *

**A/N: **Yes...Ms. Mouton is a REAL art teacher. She was the first one I had when I moved to Texas. She likes to try to BE one of the kids even though she's like...mean to those who have talent (AKA my sister), she's like in her 50's and she has a really messed up sense of...everything...? Mrs. Androski is my painting teacher. She is one of THE nicest teachers I've had (besides my old French teacher...) and she lets us paint whatever we want as long as we can defend it when our closed-minded principal tries to fire her for it. Yes yes...the horrors of high school right?

**Next Prompt: **_A Father's Love- (Refer to chapter 2) Lol, sorry too lazy to retype it..._


	5. A Father's Love

**A/N: **So I wasn't as quick this time but this prompt kicked my ass to China and back! I'm serious. For one reason or another I just couldn't seem to portray a Father's Love just right. Maybe that's cause I'm not near my dad right now, but whatever. I hope that it came out right. Lil sis thinks that a father's love is harder to portray than a mother's love and I agree with her. Mother's are a bit more open than fathers, or so I've noticed in all my years as a daughter. lol. Anyway Hope you guys like it, tell me what you think!!

**Prompt: **_A Father's Love- _ "..._when I was sure they were asleep, I'd move the hair out of their peaceful eyes and lay a kiss on their foreheads." _

**Warnings: **Lemme see...'sides Swearing...Fai and Kuro fighting...(that was so sad to write!! :( ), KuroFai moments (but HELLO! if you don't get that by now...you need to re-read the summary...and all my other TRC works for that matter!)

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* * *

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Prompt 5: A Father's Love

There is this point in your life when you can pick out just when you stopped putting your needs, your wants and your dreams first. It is at this point where everything seems to revolve around putting yourself after all that your kids need, want and dream. And then you get scared because there is nothing more terrifying than not being able to take care of those children. You get scared because you know that if ever the moment called for it you'd sacrifice all you believed in, you'd put yourself in danger and you'd give up everything you had just to get them through the day.

But what's even scarier than that is knowing that you're gonna have to let them go one day…

I had started off the journey sulky and sullen, not wanting to have a damn thing to do with those kids. My affection for them stopped at knowing their names. I don't know what became of that attitude, if being influenced by Fai's names (Kuro-Daddy, you get the gist) had caused something in me to start seeing them as my kids. Or if just who they were _made _me care for their well-being.

All the same, they had this alcove in my heart where I harbored my love for them. They had carved out this part for them to live within me and I had no intention of changing that. I had already changed so much on our journey. It was ludicrous to think that I'd reverse what they, as well as Fai, had done.

With all of my being, I wanted to protect them, to make sure that they were safe at all time. A part of me knew that this was impossible, but the other part of me said that it was impossible for me to allow harm to befall those two. Sakura was my daughter, I had to protect her. Syaoran was my son, I had to protect him.

But by the same token, I had to teach them. They had to learn about the real world. I had to guide them in the ways of reality and self defense. I could not always coddle and cater to them, even if I wanted to. Even if I wanted to give them the world a hundred times over, I could not hand it over to them. I had to teach them how to take the world for themselves. If I handed them the world with beautiful garnishes then how could I be sure that they had taken in anything I'd taught them?

Although I knew this, I couldn't help but be affectionate towards them. That didn't mean that I hugged and loved on them every chance I had. It meant that when they were sleeping I checked in on them. It meant that when I was sure they were asleep, I'd move the hair out of their peaceful eyes and lay a kiss on their foreheads.

"You really should do that when they're awake," Fai whispered out after catching me kissing Syaoran's forehead one time.

"I'm not you Fai," I retorted in a hushed tone.

"And?" I hadn't really been expecting that. "You still care for them Kuro. If you don't show them, how can they be sure?"

I turned my head to look at him. He looked heartbroken by his own statement. While I'd seen him openly hold onto Sakura and Syaoran, I'd never seen him doubt their love for him. This sort of insecurity is not something that I could easily relate to. I reached out and pulled him into my chest. Even though he infuriated me most of the time there was something that we could agree on:

Those kids meant the world to us.

After I held onto him for a second, whether the delay was from shock or a pause for comfort I didn't know, he began to tease me. He said things about me being a great daddy and husband. (The husband bit was a new twist, vehemently denied once we were out of earshot of the kids' rooms).

It was in these sweet times that took for granted, positive that it would last forever and a day, that would haunt me when it all fell apart before my very eyes.

* * *

I lost my son.

I did.

I really lost my son…

In fact I threw him across the room when I won back the mobility in my legs. He was going to kill _Fai. He was going to kill Fai. _

What other choice did I have…?

I wanted to protect Syaoran and give him everything he could ever possibly desire. But I wanted to be with Fai and as stupid and juvenile as it sounded it was as simple as that. I wanted to be with Fai and Syaoran threatened to unravel every inch of the life we had all created.

In an instant I was throwing him across the room.

My esophagus tightened as I came to the harsh reality.

_He was not my son…_

* * *

For a while my decision to allow Sakura to seek out the price to bring water back to Acid Tokyo haunted me. It clawed at me with the bitter sting of regret and anger until I would metaphorically be writhing on the floor from the guilt.

At first I stood firm in my convictions. I knew I did the right thing by letting my tiny, frail daughter stand up and walk out into the unpredictable world we were in. I knew that I was right.

But my stand point wavered when Fai learned of his dearest Sakura's excursion.

"What the hell is wrong with you Kurogane?!" he screamed a hallway away from where the 'real' Syaoran stood. "How could you _let _Sakura go out there?! And at _night _no less!"

He gripped his hair in frustration. That day had been one from the storybook of Hell for him. But that didn't give him any right to berate my choices regarding our 'kid'. I watched as Fai paced around the narrow passage not too far from the main room where 'Syaoran' sat on the pathetic couch.

"She is only a child!" he screamed facing me with his love for her burning through his only eye left but it was more than enough for me to see that his love for our daughter was no act.

"She is not a child Fai," I retorted wanting to scream at the top of my lungs at him for challenging my love for Sakura. "Sakura _wanted _to go out there. Who am I to stop her Fai?!"

"You're her father!" he was being totally serious and I knew this.

"Stop joking Fai." But I still had to push him.

"I'm not joking!" He shouted at me. "Why do you think everything I say is a fucking joke?!"

I hadn't been expecting that. Catching me off guard Fai continued to rant at me.

"You _are _her father! You're _supposed _to protect her Kurogane!!" Fai's body shook in rage. He didn't bother to hide behind a façade in that moment. It involved the security of his little girl and I knew that his love for her was different than mine even if we were both step in parents to her.

And his comment was a low blow. I stepped closer to him, pinning him to the well so he would damn well listen to me.

"You know that I would do anything for her," I growled out. For a split second I thought that Fai was going to knock me over with the anger that boiled between us.

"Unlike you, I'm not trying to shelter her from the real world; I am preparing her for it. If she wants to go out and sacrifice her safety for the cause of another population than all I can do for her is wait for her to return in one piece. So _stop _with this bullshit or I will make sure you understand what pain is."

I pushed myself away from him, knowing that he would glare heavily at me for the next few hours. Walking away I felt confident in the decision I made with Sakura only to feel regret and the agony of waiting a few hours later. It was while I paced the length of the room that I nearly regretted sending her out into the harsh Acid night.

* * *

Infinity was a joke in both mine and Fai's book of parenting. He practically ignored the 'new' Syaoran in favor of pretty much spoiling Sakura. It wasn't that he was buying her everything it was that he spoke to her and gave her his time. The way he glanced at Syaoran was so heartbreaking but I couldn't help but be mad at him for blatantly ignoring our 'son' even if he wasn't the original he still became part of our family.

I couldn't say that I was much better than him though. While I tried my hardest with both of them I gave up on the girl shortly after we arrived in Infinity. It was the way she looked at me every single time I spoke to her. It was almost like…talking to a real cat. Her eyes were wide and kind as they usually were, but there was this undertone of…anger within them. I thought that Fai had been unintentionally influencing her with his attitude towards me but I couldn't be too sure.

"Kurogane-san…" Syaoran spoke softly most of the time as if he was scared of the voice he had. "Does Fai-san hate me?"

I wasn't sure of how to respond to this. I didn't think that he hated Syaoran, I thought that he hated that he wasn't the _real _one but he didn't hate him as a person. After all, Fai knew the power of words and wouldn't use one so strong unless it was warranted. Or if it was me.

"I don't think he hates you," I replied sucking in a deep breath. "He's just really…being an ass right now…"

Syaoran laughed a little at this, but I don't think I was supposed to hear that. He turned back to the television in front of us and continued on with what he was doing. I on the other hand had bigger fish to fry. Or rather, I had a stubborn vampire to fight with. I knew that it was going to end up in a fight even before I hoisted myself up from the couch.

I walked over to his room and knocked on the mage's door. I heard him mumble something. I knocked again. He said something that sounded like, 'not hungry'. I knocked again, harder this time.

"I'm coming in Fai," this time I didn't wait for him to mumble out that I wasn't welcome or that he wasn't hungry, I simply walked in.

The only thing that illuminated in the bleak darkness of his room was his only eye. It shone gold against the light from the living room. I flicked on the light and closed the door behind me. He buried his head in his pillow and waved his hand at me.

"Go away, I said I wasn't hungry," he peered up at me at me with seething annoyance.

"I'm not here to feed you," I told him as I sat down at the foot of the bed. Yes, I had meant for the comment to piss him off.

"Well if you're not going to force your blood on me then leave," he ordered as he pushed his face into his pillow once more.

So all I was good for was feeding him? I shook my head to dismiss this thought. That was something to be addressed at a later time. I went in there to talk about his actions towards our kids.

"I came here to tell you to stop being an ass to Syaoran," I stated putting everything out on the table.

"I haven't done _anything _to him," Fai countered as he sat up on his bed. His hair was tousled from rolling around in his bed so much. It stuck up at odd ends and he didn't seem the least bit bothered by this like he usually did.

"That's just it," I pointed out. "He thinks you hate him because you haven't said a word to him."

I saw Fai's eyes dart across the room as if he was guilty of this accusation and feeling the whiplash of it all now. He looked down at his hands and frowned bitterly.

"He's not Syaoran," Fai whispered barely loud enough for me to hear him.

"No he's not," I concurred in a firm voice. "But he is your son now Fai." I was about to continue but his voice cut across mine.

"I never said he was!" Fai retorted looking up at me now. "I never said that he was my son!"

"You should treat him like a person instead of a shadow!" I threw back at him. "If you're going to shower Sakura with all of this attention then at least acknowledge Syaoran!" I almost let out a growl. "Stop playing favorites if you think you're a proper parent."

"I never said I was a proper parent," he pointed out. "Kurogane." I knew he meant to make that sting and while it did there were more pressing matters at hand.

"I don't care. You need to get your priorities straight Fai," I told him. "Because I'm tired of hearing that our son thinks you hate him. And I'm tired of Sakura looking at me like I've wronged her."

"Syaoran's our son but Sakura's just Sakura?" he asked me in a horribly sarcastic tone that made me want to strangle him.

"I never said anything like that Fai and you know it," I corrected him watching his face contort into a deeper anger. "If you keep treating Syaoran like you are, I'll…" I wasn't sure of what to say. I couldn't leave him and take Syaoran with me. That was absurd to even concoct in my head.

"You'll what…Kurogane?" this time he said my name like it was an exotic name to him but still it held that undertone of sarcasm and hate.

I thought for a minute. He had the upper hand right now since I had no other cards to play. I looked away from him, somewhat sickened by the sight of his only eye narrowed into a slit of blue anger.

"I shouldn't have to threaten you into treating your son like a person," I told him before standing up. "Being a mother, you should do that on your own."

I opened the door and walked out. I heard something heavy hit the door as I slammed it shut. I heaved out a deep breath. My mind couldn't wrap around how Fai could love one child unconditionally and then treat the other as if it were yesterday's garbage.

However he did it, and whatever the reason I noticed that the next day he spoke to Syaoran, albeit for a second to tell him breakfast was ready. Already it was an improvement. But I wouldn't be caught dead praising Fai for that. Why should I tell him he's doing a good job at treating his kid right? In my eyes we should have never had that conversation. That's not the way a family is supposed to work.

* * *

I concluded that while I was asleep in Nihon Fai and Syaoran must have reconciled or something. When I woke up and saw them together for the first time, Fai was actually smiling at him. A rare sight, yes, but that didn't mean it made me any less happy.

What shocked me even more was that Fai parroted my words from Acid Tokyo back to me when Syaoran battled his former leader for one of Sakura's memories. I thought for a moment that I was still asleep in my little room in Infinity dreaming this all up. But it was real. He really meant everything he said.

I felt like pulling him into my chest and holding him and kissing him until we grew tired of each other but decided against it because I knew that was neither the time nor the place to do such a thing.

* * *

Finally the day that realized all of my fears as a Father to both Syaoran and Sakura came to a skidding stop in front of me.

It was time to say goodbye to them. I knew that not too long after we arrived in Clow that Sakura and Syaoran would be leaving our sides.

"So this is goodbye…" Sakura stated in a flimsy cover up voice. I saw her bottom lip quiver as Fai and I both stood still in front of Yuuko's shop.

"I guess," Fai replied, his eyes turning red with the strain of trying not to cry.

She began to walk forward, her movements slow and shaky as she did this. There are a few bandages on her limbs, a good amount of scratches on her face, but nothing that would prevent her from going on with her life. Fai moves to meet her halfway.

"Promise me you'll stay out of trouble?" Fai jokes as they embrace each other.

"I promise," Sakura agrees in a very feeble voice. "Mommy."

Sakura has put Mommy at the end of Fai's name before but never had she called him Mommy. It was this little promise that made Fai cry. Silent tears streamed down his face as he clutched to her tighter. Sakura's tears were a little bit less pronounced than Fai's. Her tears steamed out but didn't fall like rain on his shoulder.

Fai let go of her thin frame and holds her head between his hands. I watch as he stares at her, I know he was unable to believe that after everything, that the time had flown so fast and now it was time to leave his precious girl to live her life.

Sakura and Fai broke apart to say goodbye to the remainder of the family. The girl stopped in front of me and before she could say anything I pulled her into a hug. For the first time I held Sakura within both of my arms in a hug. I heard her sigh as I rubbed her back.

"I'm going to miss you Sakura," I told her, fighting the urge to hold her like that forever. She was my little girl after all.

She nodded into my chest. I felt her tears stain my shirt. I heard her muffled sobs. And when her arms tightened around my torso I felt like a piece of me was being ripped right out of my chest. In a way that was just what was happening.

I was losing both of my children.

I bent over and held her closer to me. I never wanted to let her go.

While Sakura and I were having our moment I felt Fai and Syaoran wrap their arms around us in a playful manner.

"Awww my children are all grown up!" Fai exclaimed trying to lighten the mood.

I broke the hug with Sakura in favor of embracing the entire group. I noticed that Mokona had worked her way to the center. As much as I hated to admit it, the small annoyance had grown onto me.

"I have to send them back now…" Yuuko informed up in a solemn tone. It was easy to see that she didn't want to break us up. She probably better understood how we felt since she had 'children' of her own (or so she had told us).

The two parted with a final, passionate hug to each of us. Fai and I watched as the magic swirl around our kids, their tears falling all the way up until the portal swallowed them. Fai let a whimper escape from his lips when the air around us finally stopped humming with their presence. I pulled him into me and held him until his sobs turned into tired tears.

It was hard as hell to let them go. But I knew all along that I would have to. I spent my time with them teaching them, loving them, pushing them and now it was time to prove that I had done my job right.

A father's love will always show itself when his children have to leave him. If I didn't love them enough to trust them and myself I wouldn't have let them go. But I do. I love them more than anything.

"Okay," Yuuko warned us as she drew her hands up to begin the spell. "Your turn."

* * *

**A/N: **This is the longest piece in the fic to date. Yes, yes I know I am amazing -bows-. Lil sis also pointed out that in this particular piece I made SyaoSaku sound SUPER incesteous. ...Kay...Yeah...Oh well. We all know that they belong together so who cares about that little opinion? lol.

**Next prompt: **_A Mother's Love- "A mother isn't there to teach a child how to be tough a mother is there to teach a child to love and that's what I do. I hug my kids and I love them just like a mother should..."_


	6. A Mother's Love

**A/N: **Yup you guessed it! ANOTHER ONE! lol. I hope you guys like this one as well. Just like in 'On Deaf Ears' there are moments that Kuro has mentioned that our dearest Fai has forgotten and by the same token, moments that Fai recollects that Kuro doesn't tell us. It gives you more insight into their lives, or at least that's what I think. Oh! And for those of you who were confused by the ending of the last one, I expanded on it. So you don't have to worry about that!

**Prompt: **_A Mother's Love- "…a mother's love is still…subjective."_

**Warnings: **Hrm...Swearing...(but you've come to accept Rin and her dirty mouth), KuroFai moments (-points to summary- Should I really be warning you? You guys like this stuff...) and really dramatic mother and son moments (Awwww!)

* * *

**Prompt 6: A Mother's Love**

A mother's love differs vastly from a father's love.

While a mother will always love her (or in my case _his_) children above anyone else…a mother's love is still…subjective. That is the hardest thing for a mother to understand about her love. To admit that the love you have for your child can change at a moment's notice is something that you must witness with your own eyes, in your own life, in order to prevent it. Sometimes I found myself envying Kuro's unwavering love. It gives our kids consistency, something that I could never give them.

Even from the beginning I provided them with inconsistency. I treated Sakura like the delicate flower she was named for and I treated Syaoran like the miniature adult he took himself for. For me they were not on a level playing field like they should have been. Or so they should have been according to all of the snippets of conversations I'd heard while I was out and about in different worlds.

It seemed like no matter where we went a mother's love was universal. They were tender and caring. They loved their children and it was written all over their faces whenever they were walking with them or simply talking about them. I couldn't help but feel jealous every time I saw a mother cleaning her son's/daughter's face with her saliva-slicked thumb. I wanted to be like that, but I doubt that Syaoran would like that much…Though Sakura might have taken to it fairly quickly.

"I told you to be careful!" a mother scolded her child a few feet away from me as I walked by.

I pretended to be waiting at the same cross walk as her in order to drop in on her conversation. She frowned at the small girl in front of her and then the most extraordinary thing happened. The mother reached out and hugged her daughter into her chest.

"Don't you _ever _step out into the street unless the light is green!" she cried into her daughter's shoulder.

I took this chance to look up. There was a car turned, blocking the light traffic of the later evening. On the road there were dark skid marks that showed that the car had turned and missed the girl just in the knick of time. I felt my eyes widen when I realized that the little girl was very lucky that there obviously no traffic when the car had moved to miss her. All of the cars behind the main attraction were still in one piece and were being directed through the small area of road that wasn't taken up by the askew car.

"I-I-I'm sorry m-mommy," the daughter sobbed out as she wrapped her tiny arms around her mother's frame. Her body shook with sobs a perfect emulation of her mom.

"It's okay Sara," the mom replied taking her daughter's face in her hands and kissing the child's cheeks over and over as if to convince herself that 'Sara' was still there. "If you ever do that again…" The threat hung in the air along with a few labored breaths from both the mother and child.

I turned around and began to walk back towards the house. I found nothing out about the feather in this world, despite my visits to bars, shady areas and such. But I did figure something out about mothers and about myself.

Mothers were unafraid to show their confusion to their children.

And that I wanted to be that open with my 'children'.

* * *

Sakura let out a soft sigh as she turned over again in her sleep. I readjusted my hands to stroke her hair without getting tangled in her amber locks. A small smile found a way to play across my lips. I bent over and kissed the side of her face. I felt Syaoran lean with my movements and then stir to reposition himself against my shoulder to fall asleep once more.

It was times like this that made me happy to be traveling with Sakura as well as Syaoran. It felt…nice to be taking care of such delicate people. It was the closest I'd ever felt to being unselfish prior to the end of the journey.

"You two are the best children anyone could ever ask for," I whispered to them not paying attention to the figure that had joined us.

"Maybe youshould say that to them when they're awake," Kuro-chan advised me, using my own thoughts from a few days ago against me.

"Awwww," I commented smiling at him. "Wouldn't it be cute if I did say that to them?"

He rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue. Kuro-rin was squatted down in front of me, in front of the couch that our three bodies occupied. He kept his hands away from both of the kids, as if he didn't want me to know that his soft heart extended beyond the realms of their darkened rooms. I looked into his face, a wide smile present as ever.

"But I never could," I kept a laugh from coming out of my throat. "We couldn't risk the kids thinking that their own parents cared for them."

I saw a certain amount of frustration well up in his chest as he heaved a breath out. I knew that at the time he didn't like being referred to as a family man or whatever, but it got too much of a rise out of him to acknowledge his displeasure. He shook his head, not at me but at some internal debate he was having.

In my head I imagined him reaching out and kissing me gently, almost as if a father would kiss his wife after a long hard day of work. Instead he reached out and touched one hanging piece of my hair. I exhaled, letting my nerves return to some form of resting. Kuro then stood up and walked away.

I tried to wave excitedly at him when he looked back from the doorframe at our small gathering on the plush couch but when I moved my arm Syaoran grabbed onto it and held it in place as if I was going to abandon him.

* * *

Between the times when I announced that we were a family, to the time when it all crumbled we had the sweetest times together.

I hugged onto my kids as if I hadn't seen them in decades as opposed to only being without them for a few minutes. Kuro taught Syaoran how to use a sword, in turn making me swell with pride when it came time for big battles and the swords came out. I watched them grow up and grow closer. Syaoran cared for Sakura in a way that made me almost jealous of my own kids. But I knew that it was idiotic to be so petty so I clung to Kuro and declared our partnership to whoever happened to be walking passed us at the time.

This _never _amused Kuro-pi as much as it amused me.

But…like everything else in life, all good things must come to and end.

And this, this had to be the worst of the worst in the book of family discord.

My only son was lost to a broken seal.

He lost all humanity.

He lost all remorse.

He lost his heart…

* * *

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Even if Kurogane hadn't meant to show me, I saw him flinch at my words.

It was our first real fight. It was the first time that I lashed out against him. I felt like tearing him limb from limb for putting my precious daughter in that kind of danger.

Even after I yelled out my hate and anger I couldn't help but wonder that maybe if I had listened to him I would have agreed with what he had to say…

No, absolutely no question about it.

I was a mother, I _had _to keep my princess safe from what wanted and meant to hurt her. Kurogane didn't see that Sakura was too young to be preparing for the real world…

I had to keep her safe.

I just had to.

* * *

For a long time I prayed each and every night for the return of my beloved son, only to find in the morning that it was still that child that I didn't know. Still every morning at the table eating breakfast, was a child that I didn't raise.

And it broke my heart everyday to wake up to that.

I thought that keeping him away from me would quell this pain deep within the confines of my heart. I thought that if I didn't show him that I knew he existed that this whirlwind of emotions and confusion would dissipate and only leave the Syaoran that I held dear.

But it didn't work.

I noticed that at first the new Syaoran seemed shy but eager to know everyone. He tried to talk to me, tried to sit next to me, tried everything to crack my icy armor. But in the end he'd only ended up being scarred by my neglect.

"Fai-sa," Syaoran spoke in his sleep, rolling over on the couch he slept on most nights.

I paused, thinking that he was awake. I looked down at him from the dishes I'd carried out from my room.

He let out a shallow breath, "Im surrri m naw him."

Although it came out slurred and mummbled I still understood what he said.

Like the first time I'd met the first Syaoran, I felt like rushing to the replacement and comforting him. I wanted to be that caring mom that I'd seen back at the near-car wreck many worlds back. I wanted to hold him and say that I was sorry for being such an ass to him. But then I felt my heart give a violent twist as it reminded me that he _was not _my Syaoran…even if he looked like him and wished that I'd love him the same way.

It tore up my heart even more to turn around and continue carrying those dishes, their weight suddenly feeling as if it had multiplied by a hundred. But I did it. I left that poor, heartbroken and sleeping boy to dream away the pain of being ignored.

The next day Kurogane and I fought.

The day after that I spoke to Syaoran.

* * *

In Nihon it was peaceful and beautiful. And it was against this backdrop that I righted all the wrongs I'd accumulated while on the journey.

There was something about being close enough to death to taste it that made one begin to change.

There was also something about waiting on bated breath to hear if some one you loved _dearly _was going to live that made one change.

"Syaoran," my hands shook as I approached him.

His eyes looked at me imploringly, practically begging me to treat him like I had treated his clone. My mouth went dry when I tried to talk again. To ebb the jagged corners of my nervousness I twisted the sleeve of my clothing between my thumb and index finger.

It was a lot harder than I thought to own up to my mistakes with this boy.

It was even harder to say anything except his name.

I was scared shitless that he wouldn't accept what I had to say and he would give me the cold shoulder just as I had done to him.

If that happened I was positive that I was going to die a little on the inside.

I moved my hands forward and pulled him into a hug since I couldn't speak just yet. I laid my cheek on the top of his soft mane. My mind was filled with a jumbled mess of what I could say and what I should say.

I think my heart stopped the moment Syaoran wrapped his arms around me as well.

Tears moved down my cheeks and landed in his hair. _I was forgiven…_

"I'm so sorry Syaoran…" I whispered against his scalp as my hand held the back of his head firmly against my chest.

He nodded and tightened the grip he had on my clothing. I pulled him closer to myself and attempted to hide my shaking body.

I was overcome with joy that he'd actually accepted my apology. After all the days I'd spent pretending he didn't exist in my world, even though I'd blatantly favored Sakura over him. I'd given her every bit of my attention while he had to cower in my neglect.

Through all of my mistakes he still forgave me.

I felt him start to cry as well.

"I am so sorry…" I whispered again feeling the remorse smack me all over again because of his tears.

I don't know how long we stood there holding each other and crying beneath the cherry tree, but by the end of it we were both tired and red-eyed and we both had what we were missing this whole time.

I had another son.

He had a real mother.

* * *

We landed in a heap in front of Yuuko's shop. Sakura sat delicately at the top, like usual with these rough landings, while the rest of us were dog-piled on the damp soil. It seemed as though, unlike the day we'd all met, we had just missed the rain.

"Welcome back," the witch greeted us in her the same outfit she'd seen us off in. "Looks like the dream has ended."

I wasn't sure if she meant our family dream or Fei Wong's dream, either way the sickening drop of my stomach told me that our family dream would be ending before too long.

"Say your goodbyes," she commanded with a hint of pain in her eyes. Perhaps she had learned the love of a family just as we had and she felt our hurt.

I stood still, sacred that if I moved it really would all end in an instant. Sakura approached me, her legs wobbling beneath her as she did.

"So this is goodbye…" her voice shook as much as her legs did.

"I guess…" I barely breathed; my lip was quaking as my daughter moved closer to me.

I began to move closer to her, knowing that we'd meet somewhere in the middle to say our goodbyes and cry our love out of our eyes. Once my arms encased that girl I felt my heart falter. This really was the end and it tore me up to have to let her go. I bit my lip before speaking.

"Promise me you'll stay out of trouble?" I asked in a joking manner. What was one more joke? I knew Sakura would find safety and security even if her knack for getting into sticky situations was ever prevalent.

She let out a broken laugh, "I promise." I nodded into her hair and kissed the top of her head. "Mommy."

I heard myself let out an interrupted gasp, the shock of her words hitting me like electricity. She called me mommy…

_She called me mommy!!_

Tears fell into her locks as I readjusted my grip to bring my precious daughter closer to me. I couldn't let her go. She was my baby girl, my treasured daughter.

"I love you Sakura…" I told her. Now it was her turn to cry.

A few strangled sobs came from her as I held onto her with all I had.

"Don't you ever change," I warned her before I took her face into my hands.

I stared at her. All the changes. All the similarities. They were all there for me to see, all were as clear as day. Her face was beautiful and matured and I didn't have the heart to let her go just yet.

I laid a kiss on her forehead, "I love you my daughter…"

"I love you too mommy…" she repeated holding onto my torso loosely.

When we broke apart I was sure I was going to cry all over again. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Syaoran moving closer to me. I turned to see him and meet him full on. He nearly collapsed against me when I held out my arms for him. I was already on a roll with the crying thing, holding him there like that just encouraged the tears to fall faster.

"I love you Syaoran," I told him as well as he let his tears fall on my clothing.

He nodded. I guessed he couldn't speak at the time because he didn't breathe a word as I stood there and held his head into my chest.

"Take care of my daughter for me," I played around with him.

Syaoran nodded again and tightened his arms around my midsection. A kiss of mine graced the top of his head as well.

"I love you too Fai-san," Syaoran finally said as we broke apart.

I couldn't help myself. I pulled him back into my arms and kissed his hair over and over. He was my son. I loved him just as much as he loved me, despite our hard times.

I broke the embrace and held his face in my hands, just as I had with Sakura. I looked into his eyes and he looked into mine. His auburn orbs mirrored mine in sorrow and it tore me up to see him so hurt by our departure.

We both looked up at Kuro-sama and Sakura, their goodbyes just as heartbreaking as ours. I bent down to whisper in Syaoran's ear.

"Let's go join them," I suggested with a wink.

I don't think that he initially understood that I meant, 'group hug' but he got it once we reached the two grieving companions. We wrapped them up in a tight hug as Mokona bounced in at the center of the havoc.

"Awwww my children are all grown up!!" I exclaimed in an attempt to see everyone off with smiles instead of these tears.

Kuro-sama's arms let go of Sakura and embraced the entire group at once it seemed. He really was a great father.

"I have to send them back now…" Yuuko informed us in a remorseful voice.

I gave them each one last, final hug as did Kuro-sama. Little by little I felt my heart twist and break as they made their way over to Yuuko to be sent back to their dimension. As the air buzzed with Yuuko's magic I saw the children cry and cry up until they finally were no longer in front of Yuuko's shop.

Kuro-sama pulled me into his chest and that was all it took to make me breakdown even further. I sobbed and sobbed and pulled at his clothing like a needy child. And all Kuro-sama did was hold me tighter and listen to me as I continued to cry.

It hurt _so badly _to let my children go but they had their own lives to live now and as much as I wanted to be a part of their lives I had to trust that they would make the right choices and take with them what I've said. I loved them. I loved them so much it hurt. But now, I had to go on with my life, my new life with Kuro-sama. Maybe, just maybe, a father's love isn't _too _different from a mother's love after all...

"Okay," Yuuko spoke out with confidence once more. "Your turn."

I clamped my hand down on Kuro-sama's and nodded. We were more than ready for this. I felt his hand squeeze mine reassuringly.

"Hey, Kuro-sama," I looked up at him with a mischievous smile on my face. He grunted to tell me he was listening.

"Let's have another."

I'm pretty sure that the last thing Yuuko saw as we disappeared behind the magic circle was Kuro-sama chiding me for being so stupid. But I honestly couldn't help myself. Just like how I wanted to see the kids off with a smile, I wanted to end our long and hard journey with a smile.

And what better way to get that than by teasing Kuro-sama?

* * *

**A/N: **I didn't elaborate on his relationship with Sakura as much as his relationship with Syaoran b/c personally I really like seeing him and Syaoran all happy and stuff b/c of the way Fai treated him in Infinity. I like thinking that they built bridges in Nihon...they were closer there anyway. And I didn't have Fai talk as much about Kuro is this one...I just thought it would be out of place b/c Fai is a little bit selfish and thinks of himself often (or at least that's what I think) so I kinda just left that out you know? Tell me what you think!!

**Next Prompt: **_Silence- "...when I would sprawl my hands over his smooth and delicate skin it was like all of his vocal cords had snapped."_


	7. Silence

**A/N: **Well...this is different. I hope you guys like it none the less. Oh! I know I'm two days late, but happy Independence day!! I sat on the beach and watched fireworks . Jolly good time XD lol. I hope you guys had fun as well! But I have quite the problem here on the homefront. For an early b-day present my mom bought me 4 dinosaurs! I have one named (A red T-rex: Traz...inside joke just nvm.) but the other three (one blue long neck, yellow and a green pterodactyl) don't have names. So if you guys can think of any tell me b/c I don't like them not having names. Thanks in advanced!!

And just ahead of time I think I should say this seperate to the warning, but this one-shot is EXTREAMLY sexual. I tried my hand at a bit more lemon-ish moments between the boys (written full lemons for other couples...this one stumps me though) but this isn't JUST about sex, it has more to it. Just read it and tell me if I couldn't pull off the right thing. I mean if it just seems to sleezy tell me.

**Prompt:** _Silence- _ _"...when I would sprawl my hands over his smooth and delicate skin it was like all of his vocal cords had snapped."_

**Warnings: **Dude...HEAVY yaoi...(Like seriously...This is to make up for the lack there of in the last two one-shots...-.-')...erm lotsa symbolism (SYMBOLOGY! XD But if you've read anything else from me you'd know what to expect I just thought that I would warn you since it's been a while since I've written anything with this much _symbology_)

**

* * *

**

Prompt 7: Silence

Normally, there was no doubt about it; Fai was the exact opposite of quiet. Hands down I would agree with anyone who said that. Never had I thought that the words 'silent' and 'Fai' could exist in the same sentence unless it was: 'Fai is _not_ silent'.

But I was surprised to find out that Fai was mostly silent whenever I touched him. When I sprawled my hands over his smooth and delicate skin it was as if his vocal cords snapped, rendering him as speechless as smoke. I would slide his shirt over his arms and he wouldn't utter a word or a sound. There was nothing that could slide passed his lips, save for the few shocked gasps and the occasional broken cry he'd tried so hard to muffle.

I would be lying is I said that initially I hadn't enjoyed the silence. That I liked not hearing him spout out such ridiculous things. Then as soon as the comfort in his quiet, stillness in the bedroom found a way to keep me happy it gave way to awkwardness and damn near anger on my part. Perhaps it was my typical male ego that wanted him to beg for what only I could give him. Maybe my ego wanted to hear him scream over and over because of me.

Maybe it was because I have never heard him and that made me yearn for it even more?

The reason couldn't be more of a mystery to me, and at first I treated it like an annoyance (an annoyance that didn't have blond hair) and ignored it, hoping that it would go away like all the rest (unless it had blond hair, then it was rather _persistent_).

It didn't. If anything, pretending that Fai's sudden bout with mute syndrome didn't bother me made it just that much worse. I suddenly became more aware of the sighs he released while he sat in the window day dreaming. I noticed every little noise he made and it pissed me off that he couldn't, or _wouldn't _make any sounds for me.

But, as it usually goes, the frustration didn't end there.

What really got me was that I couldn't hold back the sounds when Fai touched me. When his hands crawled lower and lower, with an expertise I didn't care to know the origins of, I always felt the same cries and moans come from within my chest. It was just the way he seemed to know how to disarm me so well that made me so pissed.

I knew nothing of how to turn him into a moaning idiot but he seemed to know me too well.

But it wasn't just pride that made me want to hear him so badly.

It was also the fact that if I heard nothing from him it was almost as if I had not touched him at all.

And more than making more noise than him in bed that is what got to me.

I raised myself up using the elbows I was depending on to keep my chest off of the soft bed. Fai's breath was coming out in even, smooth spurts of air. Per usual, there was no noise. I lifted my hand and followed through by lacing my fingers in his hair.

"Why don't you make any damn noise?" I muttered tightening my grip on his hair a little to show just how annoyed he made me.

"Hehe, maybe Kuro-rin doesn't work hard enough," he suggested throwing me for a loop considering the only reason I'd said anything at all was because I thought he was asleep.

My hand immediately retracted itself from his hair and I felt my face heat up about two thousand degrees. But that was obviously because of the _vigorous _moments that occurred beforehand. Fai turned his head sleepily towards me. I turned away from him. I should have known that he wasn't asleep.

For one, he wasn't on his stomach, he was on his back.

Another thing, I'd said something too embarrassing there was no way that I'd be able to get away with something like that without being made fun of for it…

I probably should have known it before then, but the fates must have genuinely hated me or something.

Fai rested his head on his hand and looked at me, his chest facing my back as I felt him give me a sleepily satiated smile. I settled for just staring into the darkness I faced.

"Awwww…Kuro-rin don't be mad at me," he teased with a childish voice. Sometimes I wondered just how old this man was.

I turned a little to look at his wide smile. He beckoned me with his finger and a promising look. Slowly I moved to face him as well. Fai placed a few of his spindly fingers on my neck while his other hand walked down my chest, down my abdomen, and down my thigh. His lips slowly kissed mine, filling my mouth with his torturously bated teasing.

My mind reeled when he cupped me gently within his palm while biting my bottom lip tenderly. He did this in such a way that it made it _impossible _to not make a noise.

A rather loud groan resonated through out my body as I shivered against his warming skin. Fai's hand moved just right and another sound was pulled from my reluctant throat. The blond man pulled away from my nourished lips and a wicked smile played beautifully on his face.

"Just learn how to touch me…" he whispered in a voice that left no room to doubt the invitation.

Though it was a blow to my ego it boosted my pride and made me pin his hands to the bed and attempt to get some sort of sound of pleasure from the man.

* * *

The first time I heard Fai make anything that could resemble a sound of euphoria was when we were in Yama.

His legs were on either side of my body, our frames upright and smooth against the other's. I felt his heart quicken as my hand moved to the small of his back. I pushed his body closer into mine and buried my face in his heaving chest. Small kisses were placed on the pale skin of his collarbone and chest. I allowed my hand to travel to one of the hands on my shoulder.

Patiently I laced our fingers together and looked up at him from where I sat. Fai's face was turned up in anxiousness and something that looked like pain. I craned my neck just enough to place a light kiss against his lips. Beneath my kiss I felt him waver slightly in his tense stance. Then slowly Fai began moving against my body.

His movements seemed to be scared to begin with. The way his free hand flexed on my shoulder as he slowly moved up and down showed me that he was nervous. I hadn't been sure about what it could be that he was nervous about since we had done this many times before we arrived in Yama. But after the fact I figured it out. And it was very obvious.

My own hand scratched at the base of his spine in time with his thrusts against me. I felt him bite my lip lightly as if to punish me for such an act. Fai broke our lips apart in order to take in more air as he pushed himself further down onto me. My mouth covered a small section of his chest in kisses and love bites. Those kissed and nips began to move from his chest to his neck and from his neck to his face.

And maybe if I hadn't been so close to his mouth, kissing the edges of his pleasured smile I wouldn't have heard him. From his lips I heard a broken cry that was cut off as quickly as it had been given to my ears.

I looked at him, my eyes a little shocked. He bit his lip and rested his forehead on my shoulder. My hand squeezed his tightly when he started to move faster on me.

After that one slip up I didn't hear a sound out of him for a few days. He wouldn't say anything to me in his language, he didn't try to whistle. He simply didn't make a sound. But that split second that Fai gave me of his voice made me realize something.

It wasn't that I was inept in giving him pleasure; it was that Fai _wouldn't_ make those sounds for me.

* * *

I experienced a different form of silence from Fai after he'd been changed into a vampire by my own selfish drives.

He wouldn't speak. Not to me at least.

There was barely a moment where he wasn't talking to Sakura. I could hear their voices through the thin walls. But the second I walked onto the scene it was just as if I had ran my hands over Fai and tore his vocal cords.

It was after this period of literal silence that made me wish for Fai to speak. The still quiet of it all forced shivers through my body that felt disgusting against my skin because I knew I was the reason for his silence.

* * *

"Words are trust," Fai explained at he slowly kissed my neck and shoulders.

I grunted when he bit a trail from my jaw to my incomplete shoulder. I felt him pause when his hand hit the soft fabric of my sleeve instead an arm. I used my only hand to bring his face back to mine. He attempted to kiss my lips but I pulled away from him.

"Explain," I commanded in a not so commanding voice. Surprisingly my voice was soft, like I was willing to give him leeway in his explanation.

"Words are trust," Fai repeated visibly relaxing into my hand as he stroked it with his own. "As are sounds."

I nodded and he trailed one hand along my thigh, giving it a tender squeeze every now and again. Fai leaned in to kiss me again but once again I denied him despite my body's protests.

He let out an impatient and playful huff before turning back into the soft serious Fai that had been kissing me a few seconds ago. The more his smile softened the more I wanted to kiss it, to taste the real smiles he had recently taken to showing me.

"Trust Kuro-sama," is what he said. "Trust is what kept me from moaning for you even when you were trying your hardest." Fai pushed me a little to show that he was playing again.

"I really wanted to though," he confessed after a second of my hand teasing his skin. "But if I did then I would be trusting you."

This time I leaned forward and kissed him. I was surprised to feel him kiss me back so easily, as if he wanted me just as badly as I wanted him after all our lost time. Though I doubted he could feel as strongly as I did in that moment, it was nice to entertain the thought.

"Think you can trust me now?" I asked following a smooth path from his cheek right into the opening in his clothing.

My finger tips barely touched his skin yet he still leaned into the little bit I gave him. When they reached one pert nipple I thought Fai was going to lose his mind. Both of his hands shot out and gripped the soft fabric of my night clothing. He smashed our mouths together in a clumsy kiss that held absolutely no tact like his usual kisses. Our teeth collided painfully but it didn't deter Fai from getting just what he wanted.

I pulled my hand from his chest and worked on untying the small ribbon around his thin waist. His talented hands nearly tore the hemming in my clothes. Fai pushed me down on the low bed and worked until my chest was open and bare at his mercy. His lips descended upon my skin, kissing, nipping and licking until I forced him to face me again.

I bit his bottom lip and licked the sweet skin. For the first time I felt him moan unashamedly into my mouth. Just hearing a noise that addicting made me want more. And I knew that now that I had heard it, I would never have enough of it.

My hand moved to his hips as I pushed him harder against me and gasped out when I was met with his mutual want and his own harsh breaths on my neck. I began to slide the light article off of his shoulders, more than eager to see him unclothed. Fai was more than happy to help in this endeavor. His impatience was shining as he parted from my lips for a moment to sit upright and undress himself.

Once this was accomplished he busied his hands once again with dividing me from all fabrics except a white sheet. I was a little shocked at how excited he was in this moment. And even more shocked when he lifted me from the bed and slid my yukata out from under me.

Fai seated his naked body on top of mine, slowly this time. I looked at him strangely, not more than two seconds ago were his hands falling all over me in a whirlwind of lust. When I reached up to cup the back of his head and pull him into a kiss he merely grabbed my hand and spread my fingers wide. One by one he kissed the tips of my fingers and then planted many more loving kisses on my palm.

"Wha-" I was silenced by his finger pressing lightly to my lips and his mouth sliding his tongue against my fingers timidly.

He pulled his mouth away from my hand and leaned down to brush his lips against mine, "I want you to make love to me."

My head nodded to him and he released my hand. I brought the remaining limb to hold the side of his face. Lovingly his lips pressed against mine, his warm tongue sliding against mine while his slowly rocked our hips together.

All the kisses he bestowed upon my lips, shoulders, chest and hips were like sacred prayers to him. I felt as if he was making up for everything he'd done wrong and he meant to pay me back in full in one night.

And oh if he never touched me again and never allowed me to run my hands over his milky skin then that one night would have been enough.

His beautiful voice carried the essence of pleasure in every breath, sigh, cry and gasp that night. When he moaned into a kiss I swallowed the noise and felt it fill me to the brim with elation. It was almost as if the world itself was created for us and no one else.

His hands were giving and soft when he traced my body. Fai's face was always entrancing me with how his eyebrows arched just slightly when we began to move together. It was as if we were one. And I had to admit that I wished that it could be like that forever.

When he rolled over and faced me, his breath and body temperature slowly returning to normal, the smile he had one was tired and satisfied and most of all, real. I ran my hand through his hair, which stuck to my fingers oddly from the sweat and knots that accessorized his locks. Fai's smile only increased as he moved closer to me.

The sweet generous kisses he placed on my face only deepened my affections for him. I stroked his undisturbed back, my hand sliding easily. He scooted even closer to me and began to trace out small patterns in the thin sheen of sweat that coated my chest. I felt a few hearts and letters from his homeland on my chest. But something that surprised me was when he started to write out the kanji for 'love'.

I looked down at him and he kissed the patch he just wrote kanji on. I held him closer to me and placed a few kisses of appreciation on the top of his unruly hair before he pulled the covers back over us as our bodies began to chill from the room temperature.

After that night in Nihon, there was no more silence from Fai.

_End of Silence_

* * *

**A/N: **...So...? What's the final say? I tried really hard not to make it cheap and easy like a twenty cent hooker but you know how sometimes you just fail at these things. Even if it was cheap and easy I hope you enjoyed the lemon-y fresh goodness that put pinesol to shame. XD lol j/k. Oh and I wanted to say that I was thinking about writing a REAL multi-chaptered KuroxFai fic...Yes you read right. Tell me, yay or nay...I know I spelled those wrong but whatever. . Weehee!

**Next Prompt: **_Three days- "I was given three days to come to a conclusion that I wasn't ready to grasp..."_


	8. Three Days

**A/N: **Kay now that I'm back in Texas...maybe I'll get some work done. But considering it's nearly 3 in the morning (XD Just realized the irony of it being 3 and the title of this shot!) and I should either be asleep or e-mailing my significant, don't really expcet a lot from me. I've been working on the 4th chapter...and I've been working a little bit on the SasuNaru goodies...but alas...I've involved myself in two different fandoms that demand all of my attention! What is a girl to do? -pretends to faint- Oh well I'll figure it out.

**Prompt: **_Three Days- "...he'd given me three days to realize what I already knew..."_

**Warnings: **Hmmm...swearing...but really? Did you think you wouldn't find it in my fics? ...Near Yaoi...? Should that really be a warning? "Oh and guys! Watch out for the almost-man-sex!" No...but anyway...

* * *

**Prompt 8: Three Days**

The rough ground abused my body with another landing that would leave a mark. But I couldn't be less concerned with my own comfort and would-be bruises. Not more than two feet from me Kurogane was bleeding profusely and losing all color in his face. I tactlessly pushed myself up from a laying down position and fell over almost immediately from the rush. And when getting up failed to work I began to crawl over to him on my hands and knees, my movements a scramble of my limbs and unmasked fear.

Liquid red painted my lips and hair as I desperately grabbed at Kurogane's motionless body. Without restraint I ripped a scream from my lungs that shook throughout my whole body even after the echoes faded into my lung-wrecking sobs. I couldn't let him go. I couldn't let him go…

I couldn't let him die…

My fingers shook around his dying frame and I heard footsteps heading towards us but they didn't register in my mind. My mind was busy running around frantically searching for solace in any form. And found solace in crying.

Thick, unashamed tears fell onto his dirty and bloodied face while my arms wound tighter around his thick bicep and armless side.

"WAKE UP!" I screeched shaking his body to rouse a reaction from him.

I wasn't sure how it happened next, but then Kurogane was being taken from my arms, leaving the space cold and empty.

"NO!" I screamed pressing my filthy hands against the soft cotton of the stretcher to prevent them from taking Kurogane from my sight. "NO! Please don't…" I begged knowing that if he left my sight in that instant I might never be able to see him again.

I searched their faces for permission to hold Kurogane, to keep him on that hard soil with me. From beyond my line of vision I heard a young woman's voice softly order them to proceed. And helplessly I saw them lift Kurogane from the ground with the slightest of ease.

"No! No! Please…" I panted out before I attempted to crawl after the stretcher as well. "Please God…" it didn't come out in the form of words, but in a bubbled out prayer to a man beyond my comprehension.

My hands touched a velvety train of what was no doubt a garb from a royal wardrobe. I couldn't quite grasp this at the time, for my vision was solely focused on the fact that Kurogane's body was quickly fading in front of me.

"Fai…" a woman's silky voice recited my name as her soft and clean hands cupped my cheeks ever so delicately.

I felt my mouth grope the air unintelligently as I searched for the right words to permit me to be with Kurogane, to be there to see him and hold his life in my arms. But instead nearly there whimpers escaped my throat painfully.

"Kurogane will not die…" she concluded with a gentle smile and warm touch.

And her voice reached me.

_Kurogane will not die…_

* * *

I later found out that the beautiful princess that soothed me when I was hysterical was Tomoyo. _The _Tomoyo in fact.

She gave us all separate rooms. All in a wing of the castle separate from where they were treating Kurogane's wounds. Even though it hurt, like hell, to be that far away from Kurogane I knew that she was doing this for my own good. But that didn't keep me from biting my nails or from crying harder even after being assured that Kurogane was not going to die.

"Fai-san," I heard Tomoyo's voice call to me from behind the thick fabric door.

I rushed over to the door and ushered her in. I thought that maybe she would have some news on Kurogane's condition. Tomoyo stood so elegantly, her hair and eyes caught every bit of sunlight in the room making it seem as though it was cold and drab before she graced this room with her presence. For a second she just looked around my current dwelling and clicked her tongue quietly once or twice.

It was understandable that she would make noises at my room. I knew for sure that the room had seen better days.

When we arrived at the castle a bath was drawn individually for us by servants, and then we were helped into soft clean clothing. After Tomoyo and her sister left us to rest from our last world I sort of…tore up my room. Though it was a beautiful room, the colors and furniture all perfectly coordinated, I couldn't help but feel overwhelmingly angry at myself.

I knew that it was my fault, that I would be the reason that Kurogane died.

"I think that you should know something," the princess' voice pulled me from the wreckage of memory and self-pity.

"Yes?" I asked twisting my fingers into small nervous knots.

She sighed deeply, obviously sensing that I was on edge, "I told you before that Kurogane was not going to die, and I have no intention of telling you otherwise Fai-san."

I untangled my fingers and ran a hand through my hair before letting out a forced laugh, "I know Tomoyo-hime. I was just redecorating."

Then she gave me a stern look that didn't look entirely out of place on her features, but seemed to be a rare expression for her to use, "You do not need to lie to me Fai-san."

"Why would I lie to you?" I asked letting my arm drop lightly to my side. "I have no reason to."

The princess stooped down and picked up a small slice of fabric from the devastated floor. She wordlessly headed over to the low sitting bed that sat against the wall. Slowly she lowered herself to the soft bed and patted the area next to her. I sat down next to her and realized how odd it seemed to me to see her sitting.

"Fai-san," Tomoyo began turning the fabric over and over in her small pale hands. "I don't know that much about you, but I enough to see that you care for Kurogane."

I nodded while staring at the piece of cloth in her hands, "And he cares for you. To beat yourself up over what happened is the same as saying that his sacrifice was for nothing."

I felt my eyes widen a little at what she said. The princess turned to me and held my hand in hers with the palm facing up. She looked imploringly into my eyes and then smiled. The confusion must have been written on my face because she replied to me as if I'd spoken my thoughts aloud.

"I may not have the power of foresight anymore Fai," Tomoyo sighed out happily. "But I can see that you're not going to waste Kurogane's sacrifice."

I felt her other hand cover my palm for a second before she retracted both hands and stood to leave me alone in the wake of my destruction. I was about to get up and ask her about the foresight comment but she was already drawing back the curtain when I looked down to find out that she deposited the small slice of fabric in my hand.

"Wha…?" I whispered examining it with my only eye.

Brining it closer to my face I realized that the fabric smelled of Kurogane's smooth skin and his coppery blood. I pressed it against my lips and sat silently, letting the scent and memories wash over me in a feeling much like regret…

Only more beautiful than any sort of sorrowful emotion.

* * *

The second day's earlier half was spent trying to reconstruct the beautiful room Tomoyo had given me. I cleaned up the angular fabric casualties. Every piece of furniture and decoration was placed back in its rightful spot. So maybe it didn't look exactly like the way I'd been introduced to it, but for now it was okay.

I let out a relieved sigh. Though my chest felt heavy with burden, the sun seemed to shine a little brighter and it seemed like all of this pain was soon going to come to an end.

It was a nice feeling to keep in my heart, despite the fact that I knew that our journey was far from over, and it would bring many new kinds of pain.

"Fai-san," Tomoyo called from my door. My ears pricked up upon hearing her voice and I acknowledged her. "Do you want to see Kurogane?"

For a second I honestly believed that my heart stopped. I-I was allowed to see him. I could see him.

And before I could properly answer her I was already in front of her, ready to go.

Tomoyo was mostly silent as we walked through the labyrinth-like castle. Guards stood at every major cross section and a few minor ones (possibly for protection beyond the heavily locked doors). They were good at their job because even as we passed, the princess and a foreigner, they never gave us a second look. But I saw their muscles tense up just a fraction as I passed by.

The woman leading me nodded to a single guard and he cleared the way for both of us. She ducked under the celestial themed hanging and held it open for me. I followed through and gasped in sharply when I saw Kurogane.

He was sleeping peacefully. Those usually wild red eyes were covered by heavy blue bruises, as were his high cheek bones, and probably many more places that were tucked away from my vision. But, it was as if I was blind to the scrapes, the bruises and the cuts…because he looked absolutely stunning to me.

The way his lips were parted, ever so slightly, to sigh out a breath. He didn't move as he slept. He just sat there in perfect harmony with the whole room. And I think my favorite thing was how tousled his hair was. It was out of place and messy against the stark whiteness of his pillow. God, he was breathtaking even in his horrible shape.

I looked over at the princess, my mind still stuck on Kurogane in every way. She nodded towards him and turned gracefully beneath her royal attire to leave us alone. I watched her leave, thanking her retreating form every second I saw it.

And once I was completely alone with Kurogane I nervously walked over to him. Each step I took was an effort to get to him. I was so scared that this was just an illusion, that soon the dream would end and I would be cold and wanting once more.

But I knelt down and gripped his hand…and I knew that it was real. That _we _were real.

"Kurogane…" the name tasted bad on my tongue. It stung the sensitive insides of my mouth like poison. But what could I call him…to make him understand that I respected him, to make him know that we were equals and that I was no longer in this unreachable tower.

I took in half a breath…"Kuro-sama…"

That was better.

* * *

I ended up falling asleep in Kuro-sama's room, my head lying next to his defined hip. But early in the morning, while the sky still showed a hazy gray outside the paper windows, Tomoyo came in and woke me up. I got back to my room without any problems, only a small smile and a pair of sleepy blue eyes.

As I laid down on my soft futon my mind replayed that image of Kuro-sama lying on his bed, wishing that I could curl up next to him and feed off of that glory that transcended the physical state. My hands still felt the memory of my fingers running through his grimy hair. And I realized that at the time I hadn't cared that all of the oils, the dirt and blood that clung to his hair after the battle didn't disgust me. I hadn't shuttered when I touched his hair. I only smiled at the fact that I got to touch his hair again.

I couldn't get enough of him, even though his condition was one where no one but me could describe as being 'breathtaking'.

I covered my eyes with my hand for a second, not thinking too hard about this fact. Evenly I took in breaths, relaxing myself before praying for sleep.

_I love you…_

But it never came.

Just as I was on the edge of a dream my mind said those three small words, and it felt like just hearing them in the corridors of my mind was enough to last me for forever.

I let my hand slide down beside me as I stared at the ceiling with an easy smile spreading across my lips. _This _was the kind of love I knew we had. The kind that made me smile softly without force, the kind that made my mind look passed all of the physical characteristics without caring, the kind that made me feel amazing even in his absence.

Though we'd fight and yell and play like teenagers, but in the end this was a love that could lull me to sleep from the peace of it.

--

I was standing beneath the Sakura trees, watching the pink petals waft passed me as they rode on the wind. I caught one small fragile petal in my fingers and admired its pale pink that was almost bleached out by the moonbeams that hung so perfectly overhead. Time seemed suspended and unimportant here.

"Excuse me!" a servant called out to me from the door as she caught her breath. "Tomoyo-hime request that you get to Kurogane-sama's room right now."

In an instant I was tearing passed the poor exhausted girl and rushing through the halls fast enough to warp time. I probably would have ran right into Kuro-sama's room if my ears hadn't caught two distinct voices beyond the curtain. So, patiently I stood with my hands away from what separated me from Kuro-sama because I knew if my fingers grazed the fabric there was nothing stopping me from barging in and taking Kuro-sama by the front of his clothes and crashing our lips together after all this time.

But I kept my hands away and settled for thinking of a way to welcome Kuro-sama back that didn't seem out of character for me but also showed him that I wasn't who I was before we came here…

Then it came to me.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting," I heard Tomoyo say. "Please step inside."

I pushed the door aside and allowed myself to eat up every bit of Kuro-sama's appearance with my eyes. And from the way he looked at me, he was doing the same. But you'd have to be well versed in reading Kuro-sama's face to even pick up on it.

I stopped at the edge of his bed, "Hey," he greeted a bit roughly before we fell into silence.

His eyes seemed to show more of the want that he hid so well beforehand the longer we stared at each other in silence.

Then I drew my fist back and hit him nicely in the side of his head. Initially I wanted to laugh so hard for the childish expression he showed me afterwards. But I held it back and taunted him in a foolish voice.

"This is payback," I informed him with a devious smile crawling up my face. And now for the small thing that will change it all, "Kuro-sama."

I had thought that I would see another look of surprise from Kuro-sama, but instead he wore a look that I missed. A look of animalistic intent aimed at me. And then I knew that things were back to being good between us. No, they were better than good.

"You bastard," he growled out. "I'll beat you up…"

Oh yeah…there was no mistaking it. We were going to be just fine. No matter what the journey did to us, we would be just fine.

Tomoyo excused herself quietly as Kuro-sama grabbed my wrist and eased himself back into his bed. He stayed in a sitting position as I straddled his hips and tangled my fingers in his hair. As Kuro-sama leaned in to kiss me I placed my hand in front of his lips to stop him from continuing.

I knew that I had to say one thing before we went any further, so that Kuro-sama knew just what he was getting into. Without knowing it, he had given me three days to realize something that I knew all along.

He pulled back from my offending hand and looked at me quizzically.

"Kuro-sama," I breathed out happily. "I love you."

* * *

**A/N: **...Yeah so there is your almost-man-sex...happy? lol. I would have written the lemon...since I've been really strange lately and I felt like doing it...but I figured too much Junjou plus my deary Krys equals pervy Rin. So I decided against it...it probably would have featured beautiful flowery language as well as the use of words such as: Man-rod...XD Read Junjou and you'll know why that's so funny!

**Next Prompt: **_Headache- "I noticed that when Fai was being particularly stubborn and refusing to feed that I got a headache...one that took place inside of my head no the usual blond haired vampire..." _


	9. Headache

**A/N: **Yeah, another update! Sorry I've been neglecting you my dear fans! Life surely must have it out for my yaoi-fanfic writing! It sure did decided to bite my ass at a good time. I'll admit that the update was delayed partly due to writer's block...the other part was that I was nowhere near a computer...where it was 'safe' to type this up. So I hope you guys like this one...It was kind of a weird concept in my head...but I ran with it, hopefully it comes out right to you guys.

OH! I was also late with this because...SOME ONE, not gonna mention names -cough-**Charmkeeper-**cough- insisted that I read X/1999...EVEN THOUGH IT'S ON EFFIN' HIATUS! But if I was gonna read X I had to read Tokyo Babylon...oMG that one is too beautiful for words and it makes X like a million times sadder!...then I got a little CLAMP!CRAZY and read Cardcaptor Sakura, Legal Drug and randomly I read 'Only the Ring Finger Knows'...OMG beautiful as well!!

I also noticed that you guys are getting increasingly curious about the penname...**Sabaku No **is Gaara's last name in Naruto (Like Natsuo's all time fav. manga) and **Natsuo **is from Loveless, he is part of the zero team and that is a nickname I gave my litle sis. She is actually the brains behind the name, I am merely the moocher who posts mercilessly on her account! Lol!

**Prompt: **_Headache- "It wasn't until after I'd already began reading the rules and regulations of the race that I realized that my headache was gone."_

**Warnings: **Do you mean besides my obvious NEED for yaois?! Kay...Swearing (yeah yeah, sue me)...Yaoi (OMG after X and TB what the hell do you expect?! Theys was Yaoi-licious!) and a slightly needy Kuro (but in Infinity I'm sure Chuck Norris would have been needy...Oh Gosh! Don't sue me for that one!)

* * *

**Headache**

A dull throb worked its way from the base of my skull through to the bridge of my nose. It pounded a line of annoyance through my head, shattering every inch of patience that I didn't have beforehand. I tried to medicate the headache away but it seemed like aspirin wasn't cutting it. In the least.

"Kuro-chan!" Fai squealed in my ear.

I grunted, wishing him away. Instead that only seemed to encourage him.

"Are you grumpy Kuro-woof?" he asked trying to lean in to get in between me and the counter I was holding onto.

I averted my eyes from him. Damn was his smile bright. He continued to try to catch my glance, and I continued to look anywhere except at his face.

"Come on," Fai pleaded playfully. "Look at me, Kuro-rin."

"Now why would I want to do that?!" I snapped.

Despite my words I ended up looking at him, out of habit. When I realized that I was looking into the happy face I tried to avoid the headache seemed to renew its love for causing me pain because it felt like I was being hit with bricks. I turned away from him quickly so I could stop the wrath.

While I was trying to turn my head away from him I felt Fai put his hand on my wrist to try to keep himself balanced while he tried to get me to look at him.

"Hey, hey," the mage called out to me as he ducked under my opposing arm to stand between me and the counter. "It's rude to not look at people when they talk to you."

He, of course, was joking. Maybe he just wanted to annoy me. Maybe he really wanted to say something. I had no idea. But I wasn't going to look out of sheer habit this time. I closed my eyes but faced him.

"If you look at me I'll leave you alone," he sang out this great promise.

Needless to say I was eager to get rid of the headache that had blond hair and legs as well as the one that wrecked my skull. Slowly my lids peeled away from my eyes to show me an annoyance more devious than a headache.

Fai smiled up at me and barely touched his fingertips to my cheek. Then he leaned in and kissed my cheek so soft that there was hardly a sound when he kissed me.

Before this could register in my head he was already going under my arm and half way on his way to bouncing out of the kitchen. I turned to face him; his wanna be whistle already coming from his lips.

"Oi, mage!" I barked.

The man turned and pointed to himself as if there was any other mages in the vicinity.

"What was that for?" my voice felt a little thicker.

Fai pressed his finger to his lips and his smile increased, "No need to be embarrassed Kuro-chin, after all, we did much worse things in Yama!"

My face burned, but before I could even push myself off of the counter he'd already slipped out to see how Syaoran's driving lessons with Sakura were going.

It wasn't until after I'd already began reading the rules and regulations of the race that I realized that my headache was gone.

* * *

_How long has it been since he's fed? _

That was about the only thought that passed through my mind as I gripped the edges of the counter tightly. I tried to fight the pain away but it only stuck back with a demon-like vengeance. It felt like claws were being raked across the inside of my skull while the back of my head was being pounded in with a metal hammer.

Instead of pushing aside the thoughts of Fai needing to feed, since he hadn't in a few days (if the blue tint in his face wasn't a hint), I decided to seek out the vampire. Now I'll admit that I was probably too pushy with him, but the damn pain that seared into my eye sockets was pushing me closer to insanity then Fai ever could.

"Come on," I urged him holding onto his wrist far too softly for the current state of mind I was in. "You have to feed."

Now I hadn't expected to him to laugh the way he had, "Feed."

It was like he was losing his mind because I told him to feed, "Stop acting like you're crazy and just drink."

I reached for a blade on the counter but was stopped when he abruptly crashed our bodies together against the kitchen wall. And for a second I think that I forgot how to breathe. The way he pushed himself against me, the cold yet warm touch of his hand on my shoulder so roughly…It just robbed me of my breath.

Then his face came closer to mine and my lungs screamed for oxygen and finally got it before Fai began talking again.

His fingers brushed my pulse point just enough to make me _almost _shiver, "I think you like this feeding thing more than I do."

Okay, now that was uncalled for. It just made me sound like a pervert, even though he was the one purring against my neck.

I moved to get away from him and just leave him to his own devices but he pressed his body against mine once more, driving me up the wall when he stared at me with such anger. As unexplainable and sick as it was, it really made me want to bite his lip and make him whimper. It took every single ounce of control on my part to not grip his hips roughly and take him the way I wanted to.

A shiver shot through my spine causing Fai a second of mirth.

"Drink. Feed. Dink," a single finger was dragged slowly across my cheek. "If you want me to take your blood so badly, fine!"

Before my ailing head could even process what he just said his hand was already gripping the back of my neck and his sharp fangs were biting clean slits into my jugular. If only for a second, the bite hurt and I gasped audibly because of this. Then the pain was gone and replaced with a cloudy lust that fogged my vision.

Without thinking about it, the euphoria of Fai feeding running rampant through my reasoning, I brought Fai's leg up to rest on my hip. Then, as rain follows the clouds, I began to kneed his inner thigh harshly. I felt a groan roll over my neck as he continued feeding.

And even through this muddle of want, I could feel the headache recede the longer he sucked on my neck. It was almost like magic. In my head somewhere I laughed at the irony of the comparison but it never made it to the front of my mind given the fact that Fai then licked the area he'd just been feeding from.

I know that I bit and teased the skin on Fai's neck, my own feeding perhaps, but all of the time before I was struggling with the two belts that hung low on his hips was a blur of limbs and bruises on my legs.

Fai kept slamming his lips against mine almost always in time with my own instinctive want. He moved the way I wanted him, but it seemed like it was also what he wanted to make himself feel good. It felt selfish on both sides, but _so fucking incredible. _

And after many rounds of selfish-sex and moans that were no doubt heard by the entire building, I woke up to several purple hickies on my pelvis, a trail that led from the hollow of my throat all the way down to the very top of my thigh and one on my side.

I wasn't in pristine conditions but my headache had been gone for quite awhile and all of the sexual frustration that was coursing through me beforehand.

"If only you weren't so damn hardheaded," I whispered running my hand through his matted hair. "Things could be much easier and it wouldn't take frustration to get something out of me."

Slowly I combed the tangles of his hair out with my fingers, that is, until he woke up. Then Fai looked up at me confusedly for a moment before getting up and recovering the few articles of clothing that managed to land in my room. The mage didn't speak at all as he dressed himself in a half-assed way and left me alone in the dark.

That night I came to two conclusions.

One was that feeding from my neck was off limits, at least until Fai pulled his head out of his ass.

The next was that although Fai was the cause of my horrendous headaches (whether it was caused by his stubbornness in feeding, or his confusing barely formed sentences) he was also the aspirin that relieved them.

_End of Headache_

* * *

**A/N: **Did ya get the reason for this one? Lemme explain it anyway since I already explained it to Natsuo-dearest! 'Kay, so basically I thought that being bound to some one by blood (family or...otherwise...-Bait!-) is a connection that no one else in the world can even come close to touching. Yeah, you can the love of a lifetime and forge a new TYPE of bond but you can't have the same sort of connection that blood has. Therefore, when Fai is hungry and stubborn and PMS'ing, Kuro is hurting and pushy and PMS'ing. I can imagine that Fai's head would hurt like horribly if he hadn't fed for a while...kinda like mine does when I forget to eat...so in turn, Kuro's hurts as well. The begining part was just to give you a different kind of headache, one that almost anyone can relate to, the kind that disappear when you don't think about it...like hiccups!

And I thought that I should mention the massive block I've developed on 'Bus Tickets'...I feel like a failure...I'm at a perfect spot...I can make it go in any way I want to and it would seem RIGHT but I just CAN'T WRITE!! -starts tearing pages out of my notebook while sobbing- Yeah...so...pray for my return with that mega-cute story!!

Did anyone notice something...'familiar' about the last section of the one-shot...? -wiggles eyebrows- I thought it was rather resourceful of me!

**Next Prompt: **_Plaster- "...Where's the vasiline?"_


	10. Plaster

**A/N: **Damn I hadn't expected this prompt to kick my ass this badly. I mean it. I thought that it would be easy with a preview like the one I gave you last time. I'm sorry for the delay! But I hope that this makes up for it!

Oh this is a companion to **ILY **which is really starting to set off ideas in my head. lol. I think that you'll understand the timeline when you read the first sentence, just know that this leads up to **ILY**, I guess.

**Prompt: **_Plaster- 'Where's the vasiline...?' _(Honestly I hadn't expected this line to come out as randomly as it did when I wrote this! XD)

**Warnings: **Besides my making Ashura a neat-freak? Ummmm...swearing (Okay if you didn't know this then go play tag with a car) and shonen-ai (Geez...if you don't get it you need to go join the car tag fest!)

* * *

**Prompt 10: Plaster**

I was a sophomore before I would ever step foot in Fai's house, despite having been going out with him since the first semester of our freshmen year. He always came over to my house and tortured me and gave my dad a good laugh. Whenever I'd ask he would say that I wouldn't like it over at his house.

But one day, I finally got him to cave in and let me go over to his house.

Damn, that is one day that I don't think I could ever forget.

"Okay Kuro-chan," Fai began as the bus bounced us up and down on the poorly kept streets of our city. "There are a few things that you _have to know _before you walk in my house."

I nodded, "Fine." It was his house; it had rules like any other house.

"First," he held up one finger. "You can't wear your shoes on the carpet."

"Got it, no shoes."

"Second," Fai twisted two fingers close to my face. "Don't touch the couch unless you are sitting on it."

"Ummm…okay…." That was a little odd but if that's the rule then I follow it.

"Next," he showed me three fingers. "Don't go upstairs unless he gives you explicit permission. If you do there will be this big scene and I don't want you to go _splat._"

"Splat? The hell does that mean?" I asked a little worried about Fai's home situation now.

"That too, no swearing," Fai remembered trying to scan his brain for more rules. "Oh, splat is when Ashura kicks you out onto the street." He reached over and pinched my face, "And I don't want Kuro-tan to go splat."

I chased his hand away, "Okay. No going upstairs unless told otherwise. May I ask why?" After all, my dad let us roam the house without so much as a second thought to it.

"Yeah," Fai waved his hand a little at me. "He's protective."

Strange that he should be so to the point. Normally I had to drag it out of him.

"And don't ask for anything to eat," he added with a strange look on his face. "I will get you food or he will offer it to you."

"Now that one's out there Fai," I told him sternly. "Why the hell can't I ask for food?"

"He thinks that you're insinuating that he's not going to be a good host and feed you," Fai explained letting his thin fingers walk across the bridge of my nose. "So no asking for food when he's in earshot."

"Why do you have so many strange rules?" I asked giving him a strange look.

"Hey you wanted to come over _so badly _don't complain about the rules," he chastised me.

"Yeah, Yeah, I know," I huffed out as the school bus came to a stop.

"We're here!" he cheered getting up from his seat to get off of the yellow monstrosity.

And quite literally we were there when we climbed off of the bus. His house was right across the street from the bus stop. His house was big, with flower beds in the yard. I found it strange but I was used to living with just my father and he knew about as much about gardening as he knew about astrophysics.

We walked up to his door and he gave me one long kiss, 'just in case' before he opened the door. Almost as soon as Fai stepped the house I heard some one say, "Shoes!" Fai scrambled to take off his shoes and gave me a look that said that I should do the same. There was a small rack to the left where Fai placed both pairs.

"Welcome home Fai," Ashura, I assumed, called to him from some other place in the house.

"Good afternoon, Ashura!" he replied thus confirming my thoughts.

Fai motioned for me to follow him, and when I stepped on the carpet I could see that Ashura's apparent obsession with keeping his carpet clean shined though like a flashlight at midnight. I swear that if Fai was holding onto my hand I would have sunken into the cream terror.

He led me into the kitchen where I saw a man with long black hair adding plaster of Paris to a sculpture that had yet to take form. His hands were wet and white and long and graceful like Fai's. But I'd never seen Fai touch anything that had to do with sculpture.

Ashura hadn't looked up yet, he seemed to be completely engrossed in his project, but he did speak, "Do you have any homework Fai?"

"No, but —" he started to try to introduce me before Ashura cut him off.

"Good, we have to go to Hobby lobby later and pick up some more supplies," Ashura informed him, still not looking up.

"Okay but I want you to meet some one," Fai told his foster-father.

"Yeah, I will don't worry," he said to have Fai think that he was listening.

Fai let out a frustrated breath, "This is my boyfriend, Kuro—gane."

Damn was it weird to hear him say my name!

Ashura's head lifted from his sculpture seriously. He set his eyes on Fai as if he were pissed at him for saying that he was in a relationship. Then he said, "Where's the vasiline?"

Silence settled in the kitchen as I saw Fai's mind slowly process the question and he came up with an eloquent, "Huh?" for his response.

"The vasiline," Ashura repeated as if Fai didn't understand _that _part of the conversation. "I was going to make a mask today using one of the mannequins as a model but I couldn't find it."

Fai shrugged and looked lost, "I have no idea."

Ashura waved it off, "Okay then we'll just have to pick up some at Wal Mart as well."

He paused to look at his progress so far. Then, as if Fai _hadn't _introduced me a few moments before Ashura looked at me with a shocked look on his face.

"Fai you didn't tell me that you were bringing some one over," Ashura criticized as he wiped his hands on the towel that was thrown over his shoulder. "My name is Ashura."

I reached for his hand and shook it, feeling the slimy residue of plaster stick to my hand, "My name is Kurogane."

"Very nice to meet you," he commented taking his hand back. "What is your relation to Fai?"

Now I could see where Fai got his conversational (not to mention observational) skills from.

"I am his…" I thought of a way to explain it. While Fai was happy to call me his boyfriend I felt weird saying that.

"He's my boyfriend Ashura," Fai finished running his thumb over our joined hands.

The man tensed at this and his eyes hardened as he looked at me, "Really?"

As if Fai would lie about something like that…At least I don't think he would…

"Yes, I invited him over to meet you," he confirmed nodding happily.

"Then we need to go and get something for dinner," Ashura offered as he walked over to the big sink to wash his hands.

"How about we order something?" Fai suggested after letting out a breath of air.

"Good idea," Ashura complimented drying his hands off and flipping through the phone book. "Fai come and order while I get the laundry started."

Fai obediently did as he said and I followed for lack of knowing where my boundaries where inside Ashura's walls.

"Laundry?" I questioned once Ashura turned the corner to start the laundry.

"Yeah, whenever he works on a piece he has to do the laundry, mine included," Fai explained as he led his finger up and down the yellow pages of the phone book. "Do you like Chinese?"

* * *

Fai got up for a minute to take a few of the empty paper boxes off of the low coffee table in the middle of the living room. I had a feeling that one of those talks about how I would be skinned alive if I hurt Fai, all of that babble, was in order since Ashura all but screamed that with the way he eyed me up when _FAI _was the one to crawl over me and kiss me like there was no freakin' tomorrow.

"So Kurogane," he began. I tried my damnedest not to groan. "I notice that you and Fai are close."

"Yes," I replied out of courtesy but not so courteously.

"Listen closely," Ashura's voice took on a stormy tone. "If you distract him from his art I promise you that your fate will not be so kind."

Okay I wasn't expecting that, "Umm…what?"

"I mean it Kurogane," he continued as if art was the most precious thing in the entire solar system. "I don't want Fai's chances of getting into a good art school taken away because you decide that you can't keep your hands off of him."

"I don't think that I could distract Fai from his art if I striped down and covered myself in paint," I said meaning all the respect in the world of course.

What kind of a threat was that? It wasn't even like he was telling me to keep my hands off of him. He told me not to distract him so that I wouldn't botch his chances at a good art school.

"Oh you know that's not true," Fai stepped in happily with a few bowls of ice cream. "I would so be distracted if Kuro-pin did that."

Either Ashura didn't hear Fai or he chose to ignore him like Fai did to me most of the time, because he continued to stare at me like I was the devil in disguise.

The blond set a bowl my hands and sat down next to me. He leaned his head against my shoulder as Ashura's glare softened and finally the older man backed off.

* * *

I walked in the house at about ten o'clock. My dad was still awake no doubt and I was within curfew so I wasn't worried. I walked to the back part of our one story house and tossed my backpack, jacket and shoes in my room. I heard my dad walk up behind me.

"So how did it go at Fai's house?" he asked leaning against the bathroom's doorframe.

I shook my head and let out a low laugh, "I know where Fai gets it from now."

I could hear my dad's confusion for a moment before he shrugged and pushed himself off of the wall. For now that would do for him, but in the morning I knew that I would have to give him the whole rundown.

What the hell was I getting myself into with this guy?

_End of Plaster_

* * *

**A/N: **I don't think that it was as cute as **ILY **but I did enjoy writing this. I wanted Kuro's 'meet the parents' fiasco to be memorable to him. I sure hope I got that effect! Seriously...Ashura as a strange, over-protective neat freak...where did that come from? And I'll have you know that the only rule in my house that is similar to Ashura's is the no one is allowed up stairs until Daddy approves. lol.

And I started writing the next chapter for **Bus Tickets** but I am totally spent on insperation on that story...-shakes head- I dunno what it is. I'm at a 'good' part (AKA they're making out on a bench with Fai's head in Kuro's lap...oooh I hope you guys are excited now!) and I CAN'T FRIGGIN' WRITE!! XO grrr...Oh well when it comes to me it will hit me with a car. lol.

**Next Prompt: **_Up Above- "Maybe it was okay to breathe the same air as him for a while..."_


	11. Up Above

**A/N: **HAPPY HOLLOWEEN!!!! Lol. I finished typing this up yesterday but the small one just got a chance to look over it! I got kinda lucky with this one huh? Sorry it took me so long. I mean school's been killing me, and work. I don't work many hours but I work at a daycare so I'm beat when I get home. But, I finally got this one out! -poses triumphantly- Oh yeah! This one is in a different sort of...post style pretty much for the sake of really driving the point home to you (the lovely,lovely readers!) OMG and I just have to mention this but THE NEW JUNJOU SEASON IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CUTE! omg and that THEME SONG!! It makes me want to smile and hug all people next to me!

**Summary: **_Up Above- "More than anything, I despise pity..."_

**Warnings: **So I have to admit that I would have typed out the full lemon if I hadn't found a good place to stop, so more descriptive scenes (and Fai is a bit more perverted in here than usual...don't know where that came from...O.o), Hmmmm....swearing? (BUT UH-DUH!!!!)

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**Prompt 11: Up Above**

The world we were in was a world of nothing except utter destruction. There was no semblance of peace. Not even in the citizen's faces. It was as if they knew that their existence was futile, that they were just waiting for the day that the government building would give out and they would be left to the mercy of the scorching cold of the acid rain that raped the grounds they lived on.

Acid Tokyo:

A land of diseased water and people on the brink of extinction.

A land where all ye who enter here, abandon hope. Or something along these lines.

How long would it be until these people felt reprieve from the unforgiving weather conditions?

To see a land of such battered hopelessness almost made me want to weep. The pain. The suffering. Most of all, the day-to-day struggle to survive. If there was one thing to sober up my usually lying and twisted façade…It was Acid Tokyo.

"Hey," Kuro-tan grunted from behind me before haphazardly tossing a stiff blanket over my head. "At least pretend like you don't pity them."

"What a rough way to put it Kuro-puu!" I exclaimed in hushed tones. The kids were still sleeping, it wouldn't be good to wake either of them up if we didn't have to. "I'd never offer up pity. More than anything I despise pity!"

He shook his head, the hint of a smile almost absent if I hadn't been traveling with him for forever (seemingly forever at least), "How can you say that so cheerfully?"

I shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine?" My heart felt a sudden pang from the sight of Kuro's rain-torn clothing.

His skin was marred with the acid that fell from up above. Those marks looked out of place on him. Kuro seemed like an impenetrable structure, nothing could touch him and leave scars. Scabs and open cuts were misplaced upon his golden skin.

Kuro reached over with one hand and attempted to readjust the blanket he had thrown over me. He wasn't doing so well. I laughed a little and helped him out. I guided his hand with one of my own while my other hand worked over the sharp wrinkles.

"You're so hopeless," I muttered with a bit of mirth. For some reason seeing the destruction of this country made keeping a mask a lot harder than before.

There was a second of silence.

Kuro's other hand reached to help his other settle the blanket comfortably around my body. He paused for a second as if he was questioning what he was about to say. I grasped the edge of the starched fabric with one hand and let the other rest on his wrist delicately.

"And you're just as hopeless," Kuro whispered, his hands lingering by my shoulders.

For some reason I didn't think we were talking about the same thing anymore.

Hesitantly he raised the back of his hand to my face. I felt his rough knuckles brush across my scarring cheek. He took a piece of my hair slowly between his thumb and forefinger. I saw Kuro twirl that one lock a few times, each time leaning in closer to me, making me forget how to breathe the closer he got.

I felt the burning need for oxygen when his lips brushed the corner of mine and then traveled across my cheek to stop short of my ear, "We should get some sleep…"

The fingers that Kuro had been using to twist my hair and insides slid down my jaw line, down my neck and teased my collarbone for what felt like it could have been a slice of eternity.

Then his fingerprints left my skin and I felt dizzy from the rush of air that forced its way through my lungs. Kuro watched me for a second before he spread out his own blanket on the ground, as the only bed able to be spared by the people was being used for our currently incapacitated daughter.

My hands shook as I allowed my blanket to fall to the ground in pseudo-bed position. Why was I being so clumsy? Kuro had kissed me many times (and in many places, ahem). Why was it so different this time, even though we hadn't kissed at all?

* * *

"Kuro-tan," I was crouched above the sleeping ninja, shaking him a little. "Kuro-tan." It was surprising in itself that he hadn't woken up the second I stirred from my sleep.

He groggily opened one confused eye, "Hmm?"

"How eloquent," I jibed poking his ribs. He jerked away from me. "I can't sleep. It's too cold in here."

The night had taken an unforeseen dive into the colder reaches of the thermostat. No one had mentioned it so I hadn't been prepared for it. Not to mention the fact that the blankets we were given were not suitable for combating nighttime chilliness.

"Then bring your blanket over here," he groaned as he stretched out his stiff muscles.

I was taken aback. I had only been trying to be annoying. Though I was cold I wasn't expecting this, "O-okay…"

Kuro settled his head on his laying arm. I felt his eyes follow me as I crawled back over to him with my blanket in hand. He motioned for me to lie down, obviously too tired to do much of anything. I did as he instructed and laid down a good distance from him.

"Idiot," he hissed out before yawning. "How do you expect my body heat to radiate that far?"

My eyes widened slightly. How was I supposed to know that he was thinking of body heat?

I wiggled awkwardly towards Kuro, the blanket underneath me bunching up as I made my journey. He grabbed my elbow and tugged me forward to push my face into his firm chest.

"Mmphm," I said into his chest. I tried to push some distance between us but Kuro remained firm in his hold over me. "Come on, I can't breathe…"

In truth I could. I was just a little scared of what could transpire between us at those close proximities.

Kuro remained silent, his hands unmoving. I felt the awkwardness of the moment rise up in my throat to create a lump that I couldn't talk around. He let out a broken breath.

"Just go to sleep," Kuro advised me before his fingers began to twirl a piece of hair.

I nodded into his chest. Somehow his voice had made me less anxious and more relaxed. Just to know that he seemed as jittery as me made me feel like less of a weirdo.

"What," I began in a playful tone. "No good night kiss?"

I laughed quietly to emphasize my joke. Kuro however took this as an invitation.

He jerked my chin upwards to make my eyes meet his. Then, in what seemed to be slow motion, he leaned forward and kissed me. My body pressed itself into his as his hand crawled down my spine to land on the small of my back. I let my eyes slide shut when he softly caressed my lips with his tongue.

Through the layers of fabric I felt my body steadily heat up when Kuro began to mess with the hem of my shirt. Though his kisses were slow and soft, his hands were ready to feel me out of my sanity. My body shook as the kisses became longer, more needy in their softness and a perfect picture of what we had become. It was all my body could do to keep me from rolling him onto his back and abusing his skin with my lips and teeth.

We broke apart for a second. Our lips were bright with activity. Our breaths were uneven and heavy from infrequent oxygen intake. The man looked over me and brought his hand to my face. The rough pad of his thumb ran over my cheekbone, my kiss bruised lips and my half mast eyelids.

"Do you want to…?" he asked focusing in on my eyes.

What a dumb question.

I nodded with a breathy and shushed, _"Yes." _

* * *

And it was all he needed. Kuro used one of his hands to push me onto my back so that he could hover inches away from mine. I tangled my fingers in his messy hair but refused to grip his scalp. He was being too gentle with me for me to even think of that as a possibility. His hands were beneath my shirt, they were touching my thighs, they were everywhere and my mind couldn't keep up as it swam through the lusty daze he had put me in.

Precariously Kuro's hand crawled towards the fastenings on my pants.

Carefully, oh so carefully, he undid the first button. Unlike most other times I didn't want to beg for him to hurry up.

He undid the next button. I kissed the sides of his face, to assure him that I was still there with him.

Then he slid the zipper open. With this he kissed me back in a hurried way.

I watched as his fingers moved gracefully along my still buttoned shirt, undoing the cloth as they moved towards my open slacks. Chapped lips pressed themselves against my skin, leaving small blossoms of fire in their wake. My breath was coming out in short spurts, when my lungs decided to exhale the air I was holding in from the sight of Kuro's tender kisses.

Those vermillion eyes bore into my blue ones when he reached the edge of my pants. He slowly sat back on his heels and lifted one of my legs to rest my foot on his shoulder. Taking a pinch of the fabric of my sock he pulled it off and kissed the top of my foot as if it were spun from the heavens. He repeated this process on the other foot, stroking my calf as his hands moved to touch the very top of my pants.

Inch by inch he pulled them down and eventually placed them on the floor next to my fallen socks. Pressing his lips to my ankle he moved in a curved line up my leg kissing every piece he deemed kissable.

He paused for a second when he reached my hips, "Are you ready?"

I nodded, unable to speak.

The next morning I woke up naked and in pain (though I don't think that it could all be blamed on sleeping on a concrete floor). I sat up and rubbed my hair to help alleviate some of the tension in it. Maybe passionate sex wasn't best had on a hard floor?

"Hey," Kuro whispered as he stalked towards me, fully clothed. He got down on his knees in front of me and gave me a soft kiss. "Get dressed before the kids wake up."

I stared at him and tilted my head to the side, _'The kids…?' _

I thought for a moment before realization came and hit me over the head.

OH! The kids! Had we seriously had sex with them in the same room?!

Disgust washed over me. I can't believe that I had lost sight of all surroundings. I even forgot that we had the kids in the same room! I felt horrible.

Kuro just shook his head and touched my wrist with a fragile feeling, "Don't worry about it. They didn't wake up."

Since when had Kuro been concerned with comforting me?

I felt the same feeling from last night swell up in my chest. My breathing felt strange. My heart was racing. My ear drums relayed my heartbeat in surround sound. I wanted to escape but stay in his presence at the same time.

"Y-yeah," I nodded to him but looked just beyond his shoulders, though his eyes were burning right through me. "I'll go and get dressed now!"

I grabbed my clothes and found a nice makeshift changing room made from the corner of the room and a damaged and warped from the rain. Quickly I put on my dirty clothes and as soon as my pants were up and buttoned I was strolling out of the room, itching to run away from whatever had sparked between Kuro and I.

Each step was hard to take. It felt as if lead had settled in the soles of my feet, making it next to impossible to walk away with Kuro's eyes bearing straight through my skull. But I made it out.

Finally. I leaned against the wall, letting my weight guide me to reprieve. Nervously I ran my fingers through my hair.

I shouldn't feel like this around Kuro. It is just Kuro. It was just sex. Right?

"Morning," my head snapped up to see Kusunagi walking towards me. "Hey, Nataku says that you guys have to help us hunt if you want to eat. Do you think that you can ask the big fellow to come along?"

As an after thought he added, "We need all the muscle we can get."

I smiled at him, "I'll see what I can do for you!"

* * *

_Was it just sex? _

The wind rushed passed my face, leaving invisible cuts as we rode through the devastated streets of what used to be Tokyo. The destruction made me want to stare with my mouth wide open in horror. But I just couldn't focus on anything that nothing to do with a tall, dark, and changing ninja.

_This morning…_The kiss…_Soft…_

Syaoran gasped while trying to regain control over our vehicle after hitting a large bump in the 'street'. Mokona and I both joked about his driving skills while we raced in the same direction as the others in our group.

_And last night…_The sex…_Soft…_

I had to work hard to repress the shivers that crawled under my nerves as my mind flashed me images of Kuro's piercing eyes looking right at me as he moved above me with uneven breaths. Mokona shielded himself from the high speed winds by hiding in my hair. She really wasn't helping my situation but I tolerated it anyway.

After all I wasn't some brute that would yell at Mokona. Like Kuro would.

_What is going on…? _

I shouted over the deafening speeds to Syaoran.

_I don't understand it…_

To Kusunagi I yelled about how Kuro was babysitting our little girl and was unable to make it. He laughed. What a good humored man!

_Why am I acting so strange…?_

_What does it mean…?_

_Yeah, we've had sex before. But…last night…_I sighed at the thought. I felt as if I was in the same ecstasy as before when Kuro ran his hands all over my body.

_Last night was…different. No doubt about it. _

I moved my head to get my hair out of my eyes. Mokona nuzzled my neck in an effort to stay out of the path of the wind. I finally let out the shiver.

_But…But…Why?_

_How could it have been so different?_

_It wasn't the first time…By no means!_

_There was nothing special about the day…_

_What was it?!_

My mind was beginning to frustrate me. I knew the answer was somewhere within the reaches of my mentality…But my mind just wasn't supplying any sort of logical reasons.

_Why would last night have been any different from the other times?_

I saw those eyes staring down at me again. But…They were gentler this time. It was as if he was watching me with his eyes filled to the brim with…

_Love…_

Wait.

_Love…?_

No. No.

That was crazy talk! There was no way I was in love with Kuro.

Or. That he was in love with me.

No.

There was just no way…

The way he touched me_. It was and always has been mutual want! Nothing else!_

I fired off a bow to fight off the mutant that was given life by the acid rain. I was congratulated but I can't even remember if I said anything in return. Because my head had given me the most obscure reason for last night I couldn't comprehend my surroundings. It probably wasn't the best of times to get lost within myself but it's what happened.

_No…_

_There's no way he could love me. _

* * *

"Good Morning," I greeted in a more formal tone than ever before. "Kurogane…"

_See?_

_End of Up Above_

* * *

**A/N: **Okay so this wasn't what I had in mind for the prompt but I do like the way it ended...OH T3H 4NGST! lol. This was meant to show (what I believe) that they fell in love and that's why Infinity was such a hell hole for them. I hope you guys liked it!!

Sorry no preview! I've gotta get to school!!! XO DAMN YOU SCHOOL!!!


	12. Dreams

**A/N: **Basically this prompt is obscenly short but it was a challenge from **Charmkeeper** and I found myself unable to refuse under her heavy peer pressure! -does dramitc poses one after another- lol j/k. The girly just provided me with the prompt. I had to come up with the idea! This one is...erm...different. So please tell me what you think because simply put I'm nervous.

**Summary: **_"...there was one dream in particular that jumped out at her and grabbed her by the arms to shake her into understanding it..."_

**Warnings: **Hmmm...No swearing (this is where the world falls silent for a moment and laughs b/c they all think I'm joking...-.-; You'll see...) Very, very FEW mentions of KuroFai ("She can do dat?! "Say wut?!") and...my strange imagination at work...(my imagination isn't NEARLY as weird as Charmmy's though...Nyu~!)

**

* * *

**

Prompt 12: Dreams

Often times Sakura dreamt, as most people do.

Sometimes Sakura sees the memories she's collected with her surrogate family.

Fewer times she has the future set out before her in an unclear, foggy way.

But there was one dream in particular that jumped out at her and grabbed her by the arms to shake her into understanding it.

There was no symbolism.

There was no mistaking what it meant.

It was clear as day and when she finally woke up she was shaking, sweating, crying and wishing that perhaps it _had _been a nightmare. Over and over she saw it.

She saw Fai killing everyone in the final chess match.

She saw him go absolutely mad with guilt and frustration and anger and then end his own life.

Sakura saw the lifeless bodies of every person on her side of the board.

Her voice felt like it was going to crack from the heavy sobs she heaved from her chest. Tightly Sakura clenched the blanket she slept under, hoping that the stress she place on the fabric would help alleviate some of her sorrow.

It was worse than any nightmare, because Sakura knew that it was all too _real_ that it would become real.

…If she didn't do anything about it…

* * *

And do something about it she did.

It took all that she had not to tell anyone of her plan.

Because if they knew, surely they would try to stop her.

But because they had no idea of her plan, just of her indifference to them, they couldn't stop her. Even if Sakura had been a selfish being there was no way she would allow her dream to come to pass.

That was exactly why she cradled a sleeping Mokona in her lap while he projected Yuuko's image, a vision of elegance defined.

"So that was your dream?" the woman asked in a smooth Japanese drawl. "Do you wish to change the very course of destiny?"

From the tone in her voice Sakura could already tell that the woman had come up with a plan. This brought a delicate smile to her face. Sakura swallowed a painful ump in her throat and nodded somberly.

"I've grown to love everyone so much," Sakura recounted in a soft whisper. "I can't let our journey end like that."

Sakura chanced a slow glance at Yuuko. The witch was watching her with heavy eyes. Heartbroken eyes. As though she had seen the dream herself, which would not be all too surprising considering her power, and wished for some one to wish it differently.

"Now that you've agreed to this," Yuuko nearly sighed, her composure strangely altered. "You cannot turn away from it."

The princess turned her eyes up, the look on her face the look of a ruler who'd rule beautifully over her citizens one day, "I understand."

* * *

That night Sakura dreamt of her traveling companions.

She saw their anguish over her sacrifice.

She saw they way each of them felt the sting of her absence.

And she saw the way it brought them together.

The way Fai saw that he could love Syaoran without feeling like he betrayed the first Syaoran he'd grown to love.

Sakura _felt _Syaoran pain over her but she also _felt _his determination skyrocket as a result of his pain. He felt the need to right his crimes and save her, the princess, as it was written in his blood to do so.

Kurogane, well Kurogane got to grab Fai by the arms and put him in his place finally. More than anything Sakura _knew, _as if it was palpable, that what Kurogane wanted was to be with Fai and to be there for Fai.

As images of her death, the crumbling of Celes and the downfall of a once kind king flashed through her mind Sakura found it morbid that that had been the only night she fell asleep and woke up with a smile on her face in the land of Infinity.

_End of Dreams_

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**_A/N: _**So...what did ya think?! Was it good? I hope I captured Sakura right (XD pun! I R FEI WONG!) she has always tempted me to write about her and Syaoran but I've always had issues with her...-shakes fist at her- But now I have and I need to know if this is the right path! Should I write more about Sakura? Should I try Syaoran?! Should I write them -le gasp- _together?!?!?! _These are questions that must be answered!!!

**Preview of Next Chapter: **_Prompt 13: The Letter- "...I love every sweet, annoying, aggrivatingly beautiful piece of you in spite of myself..."_


	13. The Letter

**A/N: **Well, I actually thought of this one before I got finished writing Dreams so it was done in one sitting but I was too lazy to post :P!! lol! I hope you guys enjoy it cause I really liked writing it...Just too cute! X3 I've got an idea for the next oneshot and I'll try to post it before I go on vacation! (Going to Florida to spend Christmas with Mommeh and Granma and Granpa!) Very excited! So I'm going to try to update everything before I leave and I'll try my damndest to update at least ONE while I'm there. lol.

**Summary: **_"...I love every sweet, annoying, aggravatingly beautiful piece of you in spite of myself..." _

**Warnings: **Honestly I can't remember if there IS swearing in this one...but since it is the norm I'll just say there is. Mentions of Yaoi (O NOES SHII DINT!!) and of course a healthy does of Shonen-Ai (But what else could you possibly want?)...Should shyness be a warning...?

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**Prompt 13: The Letter**

Our junior year was a year of firsts.

Our first prom. And though it was one hell of a struggle to get there we did dance together and we got pictures done and the whole shebang. All because Fai wanted it.

Our first art gallery. Okay, so I had absolutely nothing to do with it besides standing next to a picture that Fai had painted. It still meant a lot to the idiot and that led to another first.

Our first 'I love you's. Yup. We'd finally said it after being together for what felt like forever and a day. It was on the first day of the art gallery, the premier of Fai on the art scene in our city. There were professionals displayed there, adults with many more years of experience and yet Fai's painting was where the spotlight shone that night.

While he was mingling with the various Art school representatives there I was standing there like a bodyguard for his piece. It was when he was talking to some graying old man that our eyes met, his showing confusion. Mine confused not too long after when he screamed that he loved me at the top of his lungs for the whole world to hear.

Then he ran over to me and practically attacked me with kisses. The next day his painting wasn't the only picture in the daily newspaper.

It was also the year when he _finally _got to stay the night at my house for the first time.

Whereas my father didn't care one way or the other if Fai stayed the night Ashura was much harder to convince. After the Art Gallery incident he was nearly inflexible but somehow Fai got him to agree after months of begging on our part.

Even years after we both graduated I didn't know how he got his beloved foster father to let him stay the night that first time but he did and again this leads into another first. Probably the most obvious first on my list.

It was over at my house that we first had sex.

And no, it was not perfect and smooth like those stories all over the book shelves, or those advice site on the internet. Not that I had _ever _resourced those things…I just simply knew.

It was…awkward. The way he pulled my oversized t-shirt over his head. The way our bodies seemed to fit together but we weren't inside of them anymore, more like we were watching from the ceiling as we both sort of just flung our elbows and keens like we were epileptics without the high doses of medication.

But eventually we both learned the right way to move. In fact the next time we had sex Fai came at me with this intent to attack me into having amazing sex with him that it kind of startled me. But, that's not the point. It's not the point at all. The point is that eventually Fai became a fixture in my room on the weekends. Since I couldn't stay at his house he settled for living at mine when school was out.

And it was after one of these moments, where our bodies governed our actions and Fai was sleeping soundly next to me that I found out something that would come to mean everything to me shortly after…

I opened my eyes to stare at the darkened ceiling. It had to be the dead of night, with how still the house sat. Not even the T.V. in the living room was relaying noise into the atmosphere. My father had gone to bed some time ago.

For a second I thought about rolling over and going back to sleep but something nagged at the back of my mind. It begged me to stay awake for just a little bit longer.

I swung my legs out from under my thick winter comforter to land on the stained and carpeted floor of my room. I got up and found my boxers on my desk chair and put them on. It was after I had adjusted them and thought again about trying to tackle sleep that I saw one of Fai's millions upon millions of notebooks on my chair as well.

Normally this wouldn't mean a damn thing except that I would have to take it to him at school because he'd forget it and it had this assignment and this essay in there and oh! It was for a project grade!

But instead of random doodles or the typical class assignment set up for his paper I saw my name in big curvy letters on the top line. I picked up the notebook only to discover that I couldn't read it in the dark. Fai's handwriting was atrocious about ninety percent of the time. So unless you were him or an expert in hieroglyphics reading his words was next to impossible.

I reached over and turned on the small lamp on my desk to read this letter.

_Kurogane…_

_I really don't know what to do with myself anymore. I love you. It's as simple as that. It's as simple as I love you, but as complicated as the way my stomach twists when you hold my face between your hands and insist that you love me more than anything. _

_I feel like I could just fall onto your chest and melt into you when you do that. And the way you kiss me after you say things like that…ah! It's enough to drive me mad. I can never get enough of you. _

_My body is always crying out for you. It always seems to need you even though my mind keeps telling me that being this needy is NOT a good thing…I can't help myself. _

_You make me smile._

_You make me cry._

_You make me laugh._

_You make me angrier than hell._

_And yet I don't think that I'd ever be able to love another person the way I love you. You're burned into my heart, a tattoo with no removal; you've branded every piece of my love with yours. If I could only live on your love I could live for millennia with you by my side. We could see the world recycle fashion, finally finish the war on Iraq, and give birth to the best generation that it will ever see. Could you imagine being with me for that long? _

_I can't help but smile when I think of that possibility. Well, it's not really a possibility since it is, in fact, physically impossible for either of us, or anyone for that matter, to live that long…But I'm babbling now…I should stop before I start talking about vampires and folklore. _

_But you are what I love and live for. You have managed to reach inside of me and shake up my desire like a snow globe, and you sit back and watch me wind myself tightly up before springing on you with all the love I can muster up. I swear it feels like I'm drowning in you half the time. And strangely I've decided that I never want to breathe again if this is what it means to drown. _

_I love you. If this much isn't obvious by now then I don't know how to prove that I love you anymore than I already do. If such an emotion is possible of course. And the way you make love to me…admittedly it was awkward at first. I didn't know if you were trying to make me climax or make me cower. That serious scowl on your face…ah! I'm laughing just thinking about it. _

_Now…now is an entirely different story, isn't it? Now you treat me like glass and silk. Your kisses are soft and precise, so planned. Your hands caress me so gently sometimes I'm scared to even breathe, for that might break the spell of your glass touch. I feel like maybe loving you is the greatest thing I could ever hope to do in my life when you make love to me that way. _

_And though I know the answer to this question I feel as though it needs to be asked for no other reason than to relieve these stressful thoughts from my stressing head. Do you love me? Or are you so Japanese that you simply say that you love me because we've made love? Haha. I'm such an idiotic man. I'm completely mystified by you and yet I have the audacity to question you. _

_Even if you don't love me as much as I love you, it's okay. If not for the fact that I fall in love every time I look into your eyes, and I get weak kneed when you smile at me as we stand entwined in each other's arms, then it's for the fact that you've made me feel love like I'll never feel again. I love every sweet, annoying, aggravatingly beautiful piece of you in spite of myself. And I don't think I can stop any time soon Kurogane. _

_So in short, you're stuck with me. To all the hard times, the good times and the times we're going to want to kill each other ahead…_

_I love you,_

_Fai_

To say that I was speechless by the end of the letter was an understatement so huge it should've been in Guinness.

His feelings went this deep. Fai had actually taken the time to write this letter and sort out all of what he felt for me. He spent _time _doing this.

And it was beautiful.

On my bed I heard him roll over onto his stomach with a dreamy sigh. I froze, scared to be caught with something so personal of his. When his breathing softly leveled out I let out the air I'd been holding in.

Now that I'd read the letter there was only one problem:

How to respond to it.

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I struggled with the response for a while. How did I let Fai know that I felt the same for him without giving away that I _had _read the letter.

At first I thought I'd just be more caring but then he'd think that I'd want to leave him…

Another ditched idea was to write him a long sappy letter back. That wouldn't work though. Mine would sound more like a demand for his love and total submission.

So what to do?

"Kuro-tan?" Fai asked quietly.

I looked up at him from my thinking position, "Hmmm?"

He suddenly looked nervous, hiding behind his hair, "I…haha, wrote this…" he pulled out a thick square of folded up paper and flicked the edges with his thumb. "Umm…letter for you…"

I held out my hand. Maybe I'd be given the letter I read before? Hopefully that idiot didn't rewrite it!

"Well…ummm you don't have to," his hands shook as he tried to hand the paper to me. "Y-you don't have to respond or anything."

I snatched it from his hands and slicked my tongue at him. Sometimes he was so stupid.

"You don't even have to read it if you don't want to!" Fai exclaimed brushing his hair out of his eyes.

"Then why did you write it Fai?" I raised an eyebrow at him accusingly.

"Well…" his blond hair fell forward again to curtain his face. "Just…ya know? Just wanted to…" he tangled his hands together. "Get it all out…?"

It was out of character for him to be so shy and girly. But if it _was _the letter he wrote the other night then I think he had a right to be so nervous. Since I knew Fai so well I also knew that more than anything he was insecure. That was a constant battle for us despite the time we'd been together.

I unfolded the letter carefully, praying it was still the same letter. When it was completely revealed to me I instantly recognized the elegant curves of my name at the top of my paper. No doubt about it. It was the same letter!

I nearly dropped to my knees and thanked the Almighty for this gift. Maybe I was overdramatic this once but I was happy for this.

For the next few minutes I reread the letter, loving the way that some details grabbed me unlike the first time. Of course I'd glance at Fai without him knowing it every once and a while. The way he squirmed and fidgeted was too priceless to pass up. How often was it that I would ever see Fai so nervous?

The way he stuck his lip out to bite it. When he pulled at a piece of his hair to make it lay straight, it made me laugh a little under my breath. It was just too cute.

I set the letter aside and I felt his nerves tremble with the anticipation of my reaction. With one smooth movement I used both of my hands to cradle his head in my palms.

"It was amazing Fai," I told him before moving slowly to kiss him.

And then kiss him again.

And again.

And then push him to lay flat on my bed.

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"Hey," Fai greeted groggily as he rubbed his eyes free of sleepiness. "What's this?"

I propped myself up on my elbows and looked at what he was looking at him.

In black sharpie on the pale(er) underside of his arm were the words, "I love you more."

It took a second for Fai to process just what this meant. But when he figured it out man was I in for it.

"Awwwww!" he cried out tackling me the ground in his naked glory. "That's so sweet!"

Yeah, it was. But he was cutting off my very vital oxygen with his overbearing love.

"You're amazing Kuro-sama!" he exclaimed resting his weight on his hands instead of on my esophagus. "IloveyouIloveyouIloveyou!"

Then I was blessed with his kisses all over my face.

He always made those mushy moments worth it.

_End of The Letter_

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**A/N: **Yeah, so basically this one makes me giggle in giddy fangirl-isms...How about you guys? I hope they don't seem so OOC that you don't know who they are. That would not be good...Oh yes and this is one of the one-shots that goes along with 'ILY' and 'Plaster'. So perhaps this could excuse me for moments of OOCness? -nod nod- I just watched Samurai X...wow...like seriously that is one crazy series...But I didn't cry when the chicky died b/c Natsuo was reading werid things to us....so I was laughing instead -.-;

**Preview of Next Chapter: **_Prompt 14: Gifting Day- "...'It's where you give other people presents...'"_


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